The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Live Concert Footage!

I came back from vacation to find our pals at Grandcrew.com have posted another amazing concert - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart live at Eurockeennes in Belfort France. You can see the entire concert here: Pains of Being Pure at Heart!

Lou Barlow Online Documentary "Making Of Goodnight Unknown"

A new 30-minute video documenting the process of making Goodnight Unknown, the upcoming Lou Barlow album premiered on The Onion AV Club and is now available on LooTube. This behind-the-scenes vignette is the first in a series of videos from Goodnight Unknown that will be unveiled weekly until its October 6 release date.

First MP3 From New Daniel Johnston Album!

Daniel Johnston is back with his first album in 6 years Is And Always Was (due out Oct 6th)! If the track "Freedom" is any indication, this could well be Johnston's best album ever. On this album, Daniel allied with the musician and producer Jason Falkner, who is known for his own stellar solo career as well as his work with Beck, Air, and Paul McCartney. We will do a full review of the album as the release date draws closer. For now, enjoy "Freedom."


Download Freedom MP3!

The Music Tapes - For the Planet Pluto Video

On its way to you in a triumphant spiral of zeros and ones through that strange nether universe from which all things computery come is the new Music Tapes video, “For the Planet Pluto.”

Featuring the tasteful backup vocals of the 4th graders of Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA, "For the Planet Pluto" stars Kiran Fernandes and Sophie Fernandes, reunited for the first time since starring in the movie Major Organ and the Adding Machine, except that they are brother and sister and live together. It also features a comic turn from Kevin Barnes as "The Slightly Sinister Father," a departure from the more serious roles he has become famous for in the videos of the modern rock band Of Montreal.



Tags: the music tapes for the planet pluto video

The Woods - The Final Breaths of a Main Character Video + Free EP!

The Woods began in 2006 as the bedroom recording project of songwriter and visual artist, Ian Dudley. The musical project, named after Ian's imaginative perspective on Tallahassee, Florida, grew to include over 30 friends and family members who all contributed to the band's self-titled debut, released in May 2008 by Plug Research Records. The album musically narrates a story of a boy whose faulty air conditioning sends him on a high seas adventure. With true artistic craftsmanship, the album was released packaged in actual books, as well as sold on iTunes. The tale the album told was brought to life in 2009 with a music video for the song "The Final Breaths of a Main Character," featuring illustrations by Ian Dudley and directed by Raul B. Fernandez.



After a short tour in the summer of 2008, the paths of The Woods' residents diverged. Feeling a sense that the debut album was merely the first chapter in a very long book, The Woods, with the help of modern technology, compiled foggy memories and scattered instrumentation from six cities across these United States to create The EP Logue, released for free online on June 22nd, 2009. Inspired by possessions, locations, youth, distance and pack-rats, The EP Logue completes the story that began in Tallahassee with Ian Dudley and friends. Although the core group of musicians that contributed to both albums plan to continue to write and play together, The Woods will be left behind for new landscapes and stories.

Download The EP Logue Free

Side Note: The Woods realize that the band WOODS has gotten so big and so popular that they will be changing their name for all future projects!

Vic Chesnutt/Elf Power European Tour Video Episode 1

I got this great email in my box today. The video is really great, so I thought I'd just share the email with you as is:

Hello. This is Jimmy from the band Elf Power. We got to tour Europe this past Spring with Vic Chesnutt in support of our collabaorate album together called Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power and The Amorphous Strums "Dark Developments" Orange Twin Records, 2009). We were in Europe for 3 weeks coming straight off of a REM Tribute show that we played in NYC at Carnegie Hall. Vic had his personal camera with him on the trip and filmed 11 tapes worth of footage while we were on tour (with Laura Carter and myself also filming from time to time, but the footage is 90% shot by Vic himself). After tour, I brought the tapes home and sifted through them. Realizing that whatever I did with them would be way too long to hold the attention span of today's YouTube generation, with the task of editing these tapes into a tour video I decided to break them down into episodes, the first of which can be viewed here:



Episode 1 takes us from NYC to Den Haag, Netherlands with a travel day inbetween. I already have 2 more episodes complete and plan on posting them in intervals, maybe one per month, until the series is complete (i am guessing by the end there will probably be about 8 episodes). It was a fun trip and we're all excited to share the videos with friends and fans.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well, I am just trying to let some people know that this video (and forthcoming series) exists and I am trying to get the word out to whoever is interested. So if anyone would like to post about this anywhere on the world-wide-web then we would apprciate it.

Hope you like the video.

Jimmy - Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, and The Amorphous Sturms

Princeton - Cocoon of Love

Los Angeles-based Princeton is releasing their debut record, Cocoon of Love, September 29th on Kanine Records. Growing up on Princeton Street in Santa Monica, the group now lives in an aging green house on a hillside in the Eagle Rock district of LA where their album was recorded. Take a second to listen to or download the beautiful song "Calypso Gold." The entire album is full of wonderful pop gems.

Download Calypso Gold MP3!

Tags:princeton cocoon of love calypso gold mp3

Why? Live in Paris Concert Footage!

Thanks to our pals at Grandcrew, we gladly present you Why? playing live in Paris at the Colors Music Festival! It's really frigging awesome. The clip below is the song "The Hollows." The full concert is 16 amazing songs. Check out the whole thing here: WHY? LIVE!

Circulatory System - Signal Morning

After The Olivia Tremor Control went on hiatus, songwriter W. Cullen Hart's first step was to create the Circulatory System. Featuring members of the former Olivias and other notable Elephant 6 luminaries, the Circulatory System's self-titled first album explored themes of the larger and the smaller, the here and the far away, and the now and the forever.

Seven and a half years in the making, culled from hours of recorded material sculpted in at least seven different studios, the new Circulatory System album is an absolutely stellar document of song and sound. Still concerned with matters of the inner/the outer, the incomprehensibly huge and the very, very small, Signal Morning is an imperative blast of kinetic motion. Composed by W. Cullen Hart while in the midst of battling Multiple Sclerosis within his own system, the new album finds Hart broadcasting his urgent pleas to the world(s) to evolve into a higher dimension, or for existing patterns to reveal themselves at peace within the natural order of the universe.

Featuring all the members of The Olivia Tremor Control, as well as Jeff Mangum and Julian Koster of Neutral Milk Hotel, Signal Morning has been eagerly anticipated since the release of the first Circulatory System record earlier this decade. The album is due out on Cloud Recordings in CD and Digital format on Sept 9th. The vinyl release will be in October.

Download Overjoyed MP3!

Tags: circulatory system overjoyed mp3 signal morning

Music Go Music - Warm in the Shadows Live on Face Time!

Keeping with our recent weekend disco theme, here's a great live performance from Music Go Music performing on Face Time. Their new album Expressions is due out Oct. 6th. Get out your mirrored ball!

Sonya Cotton - Red River

Sonya Cotton is one of the finest singer/songwriters of our time. Her latest album Red River (due out on Sept 1st) is one of the most peaceful, delicate, and beautiful recordings I have ever heard. Perhaps the best compliment I can give her is I would trade in my Joanna Newsom records to be able to listen to her on a quiet, contemplative day. Every track on Red River is pretty much perfect. Our favorites include "Brother and I", "Canal", and "Sickness." Be sure to follow the link below to a great podcast of Sonya Cotton performing or, at the very least, take some time and investigate Sonya Cotton on your own.

Watch Sonya Cotton on Chasing the Moon Podcast


Tags: sonya cotton red river

7 Silly Questions w/ Clock Hands Strangle!

Clock Hands Strangle hail from the semi-moist, manatee ridden state of Florida. The same state that has given us such horrendous acts such as Limp Bizkit, Creed, and 'N Sync. All jokes aside, it is fascinating that such a well versed, literate bunch of indie folk/roots rockers would spring up from a state that has devalued it's grade school education system in hopes of retaining it's larger population of retirees and tourists.

Download Distaccati MP3!
Download Desert Music (Live) MP3!

In June, Clock Hands Strangle released their latest album Distaccati. In an interview with Groupee.com, primary songwriter Todd Portnowitz explains his writing process for the album as such, "...most of the lyrics on Distaccati came about as a reaction to reading a slew of modern literature, writers like T.S. Eliot, who said that an artist must 'destroy his personality' to create anything substantial. I understand the notion—it’s the same for a scientist, who must completely remove his subjective self from the experiment in order to reduce the amount of bias in the results; but I only agree with it in part. Writing this album was a way to wrestle with that question - how much of yourself should be in art? How much should be pure, removed observation?" Even the word Distaccati itself means 'detached' in Italian.


We caught up with these thoughtful gentlemen via in the internet and persuaded them to answer a few of our highly suspect questions....

Viva: What's the most embarrassing band you loved as a kid?
Todd: Ace of Base. Had the CD and tape. What you gonna tell your dad, it’s like a wheel of fortune.
Brian: Stryper.
Nick: Probably DC Talk.
Cristian: Coolio.
Adam: Skankin’ Pickle.

Viva: Who smells the worst in van after a show?
Todd: Nick. And as a side note, I still stand by my wager that I could go five days on the road without a shower and still smell sweet.
Brian: A tie between Cristian after two days or Nick's beef jerky.
Nick: I think it's between Adam and Cristian. One always smells worse than the other.
Cristian: Me.
Adam: Nick.

Viva: More frightening clock: Doomsday or Biological?
Todd: Biological, but I was always more afraid of the whole atomic time vs. earth time (time measured by an accurate cesium clock vs. time measured by the earth’s rotation). I remember reading an article about how in the 70s they had to add two “leap seconds” in order to make the two clocks agree, so that our satellites would be coordinated, and GPS systems would continue to function. I believe there was even an entire week lost in Great Britain at some point way back in the day, from trying to coordinate atomic time and earth time. People were protesting in the streets, fighting for their week back.
Brian: I don't have a menstrual cycle ... So doomsday.
Nick: Biological. You should see Nick Sr.
Cristian: Doomsday.
Adam: Neither. I welcome male pattern baldness, the returning of Christ, and my ascension into the kingdom of heaven.

Viva: What's the funniest thing that has happened to you on the road?
Todd: I think we were in Champaign-Urbana, and someone’s girlfriend straightened my hair. We put on a little mascara and went and took fake emo pictures out by these abandoned railroad tracks, pretending to look like we’d just listened to The Used for three hours and were all suffering from metaphorical “wounds to the heart.” Some of the pictures are still circulating online. I’m not sure anyone ever got the joke, so there’s probably people out there who think we’re really that lame . . . I guess I don’t blame them.
Brian: Nick getting punched repeatedly after fooling around with this dude’s girlfriend in Tulsa, OK.
Nick: Hard to choose, but I would say the time we were in D.C., staying at a hotel with Brian's family, and his Mom walked in on Todd just as he was going to pee in the kitchen sink . . .
Cristian: We stayed with this girl who thought we were going to steal her cat (apparently it had happened three times), she also warned us to “keep the volume down” if there was going to be any sex (it was only the five of us staying there) . . . she was strange, to put it mildly. Later in the night Nick and Todd went upstairs to her room to ask for pillows and both came back downstairs with these traumatized faces. For a little while they wouldn’t say what happened, and just sat there blank-faced. The suspense, waiting to hear what sort of whacked out shit they’d seen, was the funniest thing ever.
Adam: Almost dying on an icy highway, driving from Toronto to Chicago.

Viva: What's the last concert you attended?
Todd: Silver Jews w/ Monotonix
Brian: mewithoutyou in Tampa
Nick: Was at the mewithoutyou show with Brian and Cris.
Cristian: mewithoutyou
Adam: Radiohead

Viva: Who's in heavy rotation on your iPod?
Todd: Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch, and The Complete Prestige Recordings.
Brian: The new Clem Snide album and the new Joan of Arc.
Nick: I don't have an ipod.
Cristian: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
Adam: Phantom Buffalo.

Viva: What was the worst fight over nothing that you got into with each other after being road weary and exhausted?
Todd: Nick and I had a long and bitter argument over the difference between a “bite” and a “taste.” In New York, Nick purchased this giant, amazing-looking burrito, and I asked for a “bite” so that I could “taste” it. He assumed that my asking for a “bite,” implied that I was hungry, but too cheap pay for a burrito. Really I just wanted a “taste,” so I could see how tasty the burrito was. The “bite,” in my belief, was just a necessary evil for exploring the “taste.” Twenty minutes later the burrito was gone and I never got a taste. Or a bite. This argument continues. I mean, we’d go to different bars and all order different beers, and occasionally we’d “sip” each other’s beers in order to “taste” them, so that our next decision would be more informed. What’s the difference between a beer and a burrito? I support tasting in all forms, wholeheartedly, and affirm with great conviction that neither hunger, nor greed, nor thriftiness, play a role in the tasting process. “To expand the pallet is to expand the mind,” as William Howard Taft once said. I wanted that burrito…
Brian: Either Cristian’s bad driving or Todd’s horrible navigating.
Nick: We don't fight really, just know how to push each others buttons. Although there were a few pretty good fights when a couple of us brought our girlfriends with us on tour.
Cristian: Whether or not to eat at Cracker Barrel at the end of our last tour.
Adam: I got absurdly angry with Brian and Nick in St. Paul, MN because they started trying to help pack up my drums immediately following a show. I have my methods.

Why? Announce Fall Tour, New Album!

Why? is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful bands ever to grace indie rock. They have just announced their Fall tour schedule supporting the release of their 4th, and perhaps most poignant, album Eskimo Snow (due out 9/22). Take a listen to the MP3 "This Blackest Purse." It's a bit of a departure from last year's Alopecia, but surprisingly, they recorded both albums at the same time deliberately making the albums each others' opposite. Whether you are already a Why? fan or not, when you hear this record, you will be instantly in love.

Download This Blackest Purse MP3!

09/24 Cincinnati, OH Northside Tavern *
09/26 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge / Wordless Music Series +
10/01 Cambridge, MA Middle East #%
10/02 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church #%
10/03 Pittsburgh, PA Assembly Room, William Pitt Union FREE SHOW #%
10/04 Ann Arbor, MI The Blind Pig #%
10/05 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge #%
10/06 Madison, WI UW Madison Terrace #%
10/07 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock #%
10/09 Denver, CO Bluebird #%
10/10 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue #%
10/13 Annacortes, WA Department of Safety &$
10/14 Seattle, WA The Vera Project &$
10/15 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom &$
10/17 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall *%$
10/20 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex *%
10/23 Phoenix, AZ Modified Arts *%
10/24 Tucson, AZ Club Congress *%
10/26 Denton, TX Hailey's *%
10/28 Birmingham, AL Bottletree *%
10/29 Asheville, NC Grey Eagle *%
10/30 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle *%
10/31 Atlanta, GA Lenny's %^@
11/02 Orlando, FL The Social %!
11/03 Gainesville, FL Common Grounds %!
11/04 Tallahassee, FL Club Downunder %!
11/06 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon %~
11/07 Houston, TX Walter's On Washington %~
11/08 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/10 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall %~
11/11 St. Louis, MO Firebird %~
11/13 Bloomington, IN Rhino's Youth Center ~

* = w/ Serengeti and Polyphonic
# = w/ Dark Dark Dark
% = w/ AU
& = w/ No Kids
$ = w/ Mount Eerie
^ = w/ Jemina Pearl
@ = w/ Islands
! = w/ James Husband
~ = w/ The Moore Brothers
+ = w/ Owen Weaver with Flexible Music

Tags:why? eskimo snow

Vic Chesnutt "Chain" MP3 + Fall Tour!

This fall Vic Chesnutt will embark on a six-week North American tour in support of At the Cut, the Athens, GA-based singer-songwriter’s latest effort. The touring band features Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto and members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Silver Mt. Zion, all of whom collaborated with Chesnutt on the new album which is out September 22 on Constellation Records. "Chain" is a great preview of what is to come!

Download Chain MP3!

October 23 Mavericks Ottawa, ON
October 24 Ukranian Federation Hall Montreal, QC
October 25 Sommerville Theater Cambridge, MA
October 26 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
October 27 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
October 28 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
October 29 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
October 30 Black Cat Washington, DC
October 31 The Soapbox Wilmington, NC
November 1 The EARL Atlanta, GA
November 2 40 Watt Club Athens, GA
November 4 Southgate House Newport, KY
November 5 Lincoln Hall Chicago, IL
November 6 Detroit Institute of Arts Detroit, MI
November 7 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON
November 19 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
November 20 West End Cultural Centre Winnipeg, MB
November 21 Amigo’s Saskatoon, SK
November 22 McDougall United Church Edmonton, AB
November 23 Knox United Church Calgary, AB
November 25 Richards on Richards Vancouver, BC
November 26 Lucky Bar Victoria, BC
November 27 Crocodile Seattle, WA
November 28 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR
November 30 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
December 1 The Regent Los Angeles, CA
December 2 Club Congress Tucson, AZ
December 4 Hailey’s Denton, TX
December 5 Central Presbyterian Church Austin, TX

Tags: vic chesnutt chain mp3

Free Lou Barlow MP3! Gravitate!

Merge Records is kind enough to give us all a free MP3 of the track "Gravitate" from the upcoming Lou Barlow release Goodnight Unknown due out on October 6th! It's pretty great. We are really excited about the record.

Download Lou Barlow's Gravitate MP3

Tags: lou barlow gravitate mp3

Metric - Help I'm Alive Video

Here's the latest video from Metric's album Fantasies! This album is really turning out to be their most solid release to date. Enjoy!

Mark Mallman - Invincible Criminal Video

Here's a really fun video from Ruby Isle's Mark Mallman. His solo album Invincible Criminal is due out late August 2009! Check it out!

Cocoon Live in Concert Thanks to Our Pals at Grandcrew!

The first time you hear charming French duo Cocoon they will steal your heart. Our pals at Grandcrew.com caught them at La Maroquinerie in Paris. In the player below, you can watch the crowd sing along to song "On My Way", which is great, but not even close to being their best song. The entire concert is 17 songs long and can be viewed here:

Cocoon Live in Concert

Tullycraft Tribute First String Teenage High Gets Digital Re-release

First String Teenage High: The Songs of Tullycraft Played By People Who Aren't, was orignially co-released in 2003 by AAJ & Bumblebear records. The initial run was only 500 cds and has been completely sold out for quite some time. This was back in the day before iTunes, Amazon MP3, Emusic, etc...were easily accessible to small indie labels.

First String Teenage High started as a labor of love by Bumblebear Records owner Jimmy Hughes (current member of Elf Power & mastermind behind wonderful band Folklore). With Sean Tollefson's support, Hughes lovingly complied the tracks over a two year period. Some of the songs covered are actually from Sean's bands that were precursors to or side projects of Tullycraft - Crayon and Six Cents & Natalie. Sadly, very few of the bands that contributed to the album are still in existence.

First String Teenage High will be available for download via all major outlets on July 28th, 2009 thanks to the fine folks at Unchikun Records!

Download Murder Beach Doing "8 Great Ways"
Download Bugs Eat Books Doing "Sweet"

Track List:
1. Pipper the Kissing Cat - Pedal
2. Murder Beach - 8 Great Ways
3. Invaders from a Forbidden Planet - Josie
4. Kanda - Break Seaside and Over
5. Snowfort Inc. - Snap Tight Wars
6. Crewsin' for a Brewsin' - Bailey Park
7. Seasick Crocodile - Pink Lemonade
8. Hollie Impossible - Actives & Pledges
9. Blister Fist - Surfer Girl
10. Eric Metronome - Spoiler / Needed To
11. Saltine Crack Whores - Wild Bikini
12. My Place in Space - Superboy and Supergirl
13. Boyracer - She's Got the Beat
14. Beltline - The Lives of Cleopatra
15. Kisswhistle - My Date with Rachel Sweet
16. Yar's Revenge - Bee Sting Stings
17. Gang Wizard - Meet Me in Las Vegas
18. Winnebago - Knee High Susan
19. The Boys' Star Library - Stay Cool I'll See You This Summer
20. Genoe - Miss Douglas County
21. Bugs Eat Books - Sweet
22. Dipstick & Eggnog - 1st String Teenage High
+2 Bonus Tracks That Were Hidden on the CD!

Tags: first string teenage high tullycraft unchikun records

Japancakes - Behind the Mountains Video

Japancakes "Behind the Mountains" is their first ever song to utilize voclas! While the band has mentioned the idea of introducing vocals to their music through the years, it has never quite happened… until now. From Athens, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and Taiwan, Japancakes have put together three versions of their single "Behind The Mountains." With the comforting airy vocals from Orenda Fink (Azure Ray) on the English version, accompanying Japancakes soundtrack style, some beautiful and simplistic visuals are drawn. These visuals come to life in the first ever video from Japancakes, directed by Ryan Berg. Stunning and simple, this video captures a glimpse of the beauty that comes to mind when thinking of all involved in the project. Even more so, another beautiful vocal version is available. With lyrics written and performed in Mandarin, by Moon (Miss Stocking), this unique version is equally beautiful in all areas. And keeping with Japancakes true instrumental roots, an instrumental version is also available. You can digitally download the tracks on iTunes the song starting July 28th!

Tags:japancakes behind the mountains

Girls Rock NC (GRNC) July 18th show at the Cats Cradle

If you live within a few hundred miles of the Chapel Hill, NC area, you owe it to yourselves and to the future of indie rock to go to the Girls Rock show at the Cats Cradle on July 18th.

Come witness a new generation of young, musical women who have just finished up a unique week of summer camp where they trained and practiced tirelessly to perform original compositions in front of a live audience. Eighteen girl bands with members ages 7-17 will take the stage at this premiere local concert venue to showcase their creativity and individuality and to play some rockin’ tunes.

Each band was formed and all music was composed on-site at three Girls Rock NC camp locations around the Triangle region of North Carolina. Girls Rock NC is an organization that provides music and arts programming and makes the creative community more accessible for young women. It places musical instruments in the hands of girls and encourages them to express themselves through song, rhythm, and movement. Girls Rock NC also promotes self-assurance by addressing important issues surrounding body image, gender equality and helping girls develop good relationships with their peers.

This year marks the 5th annual Camper Concert Showcase and, once again, the public is invited to attend to support these young musicians and the efforts of the Girls Rock NC organization. The program will be emceed by Laurelyn Dossett of traditional roots duo Polecat Creek and Betsy Shane of punk rock band Pink Flag. Tickets are $5 and may be purchased at the door on the evening of the show. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. For more information, visit girlsrocknc.org or call (919) 641-2727.

Whoever wrote that girls are made of “sugar, spice and everything nice” could have just summed it up by saying, “GIRLS ROCK!”

Footage From Girls Rock 2007!

Val Venosta - Peace & Quiet is For Libraries Video + Free MP3!

Keeping with the electronic dance theme of this weekend, the fabulous Swedish band Val Venosta sent us this fun-tastic video and free mp3 of their song "Peace and Quiet is For Libraries" along with the following note:

Hi, as we say in Sweden "Liten tuva stjälper ofta stora lass",
which means that in the summer you can't just sit in your room and play
with you synthesizers!

Download Peace & Quiet is For Libraries MP3!

Tags:val venosta peace and quiet is for libraries

Vitalic - Your Disco Song Video

Amazing French electronica band Vitalic are coming out with their first album in 4 years in September 2009! Your Disco Song is the first preview of the album available. Enjoy!

Tags: vitalic your disco song

Apteka - Tour EP

We get a lot of music on a daily basis from bands that for one reason or another have to do their own promo. We actually encourage this and really do listen to absolutely everything sent our way! Thankfully, Apteka found us on the interwebs and decided to send us their latest EP entitled Tour. Based out of Chicago, Apteka has done a fantastic job re-imagining the indie rock sounds from the early to mid-90s that made thier hometown the hotbed for truly rockin' indie tunes. We might be biased since we love Steve Albini, Seam, and Touch and Go Records, but Apteka does a great job invoking that era without completely mimicing it. Their are offering their EP as a free download.
You can get it here:

Free TOUR EP Download

Summer Cats - Songs For Tuesdays

Slumberland Records has been knocking it out of the ballpark as of late with fantastic releases. Australian band Summer Cat's album Songs for Tuesdays is yet another homerun. If you like really well done, upbeat indie pop/rock, then you owe it yourself to check these guys out. The album is due out on July 14th. Take a listen to the free MP3 and watch the video below! You will definitely be hearing a lot from Summer Cats in the coming months!

Download Hey You MP3!



Tags: summer cats songs for tuesdays

Casper & The Cookies and Everything Now on Tour Together!

Two really great indie bands Casper & the Cookies and Everything Now! are heading out on tour together on July 15th! They will be up and down the East coast and all throughout the Midwest. If they are coming to a town near you, get up and go!



7/16 - Columbus, OH - Circus
7/17 - Youngstown, OH - Cedar’s Lounge
7/18 - Pittsburgh, PA - Brillobox
7/19 - Scranton, PA - The Bog
7/20 - Boston, MA - Middle East Club
7/21 - New York, NY - Cake Shop
7/22 - Brooklyn, NY - Bruar Falls
7/23 - Philadelphia, PA - Danger Danger Gallery
7/24 - Washington, DC - Solly’s
7/25 - Fredericksburg, VA - Eyeclops Gallery
7/26 - Baltimore, MD - Joe Squared
7/27 - Charlottesville, VA - Twisted Branch
7/29 - Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
7/30 - Knoxville, TN - Pilot Light
8/1 - Little Rock, AR - TBA
8/3 - St. Louis, MO - The Firebird
8/4 - Columbia, MO - Mojo’s
8/5 - Lawrence, KS - Replay Lounge
8/6 - Des Moines, IA - Vaudeville Mews
8/7 - Minneapolis, MN - Nomad World Pub
8/8 - Ames, IA - Ames Progressive
8/11 - Iowa City, IA - The Mill
8/13 - Madison, WI - The Frequency
8/14 - Chicago, IL - Beat Kitchen
8/15 - Fort Wayne, IN - Bill’s City Grill

The Winter Sounds - Church of the Haunted South

The Winter Sounds are back with another great release Church of the Haunted South. The album is a 12 song re-envisioning of all things that were great about Brit & Scottish pop from the late 70s and all throughout the 80s. The album is like listening to your old records and reminiscing of a time when MTV still played videos and you could not wait to see what was coming on next. Take a listen to "Trophy Wife" in the player below. The band has also kindly made the track available as a free download.

Download Free MP3 - Trophy Wife!

Tags:the winter sounds church of the new south

WAVVES - No Hope Kids Video

This is the first official music video from WAVVES, directed by Pete Ohs, who has previously worked with The Arcade Fire, The Unicorns, Fiery Furnaces, Au Revoir Simone, etc. It was shot mostly on the band’s first European tour. WAVVES has three US dates coming up…..

WAVVES

07/15 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom*
07/18 Chicago, IL Pitchfork Fest
08/28 San Diego, CA Street Scene

Tags:wavves no hope kids video

Bird Names - Sings the Browns

Sings the Browns is the latest in a long line of great releases from Chicago's Bird Names. Experimental at their core, Bird Names seems to draw their musical compositions from bits and pieces of virtually every genre creating an interesting sound that, when at its best, fits somewhere between the easy-breezy sounds of early 70s folk-pop, mid 90s Japanese noise, and children making music with their Fisher Price tool kit. Somewhere around track 5 ("Natural Weeds"), this album takes off and never looks back culminating in eight songs in a row that will dazzle you with brilliance. My highlights include "Production", "I Had A Girl", and "Taxicabs & Bicycles." Give this record a listen, it's well worth your time.

Tags:bird names sings the browns

7 Silly Questions w/ Projekt A-ko!

I will have to admit a bit of a bias towards Projekt A-ko. I have been following the music of these crazy kids from Glasgow, Scotland for at least 13 years. Those in the know might remember Fergus Lawrie, Elaine Graham, & Ian Graham from their hugely popular previous band Urusei Yatsura (in the US, they were released simply as Yatsura). The music of Projekt A-ko still contains the high energy, fun loving spirit of Yatsura, but it is beautifully tempered by years of experience and the natural musical maturation process. The result is a truly magical collection of songs that only seasoned indie rock veterans can deliver.


Recently, Projekt A-ko released a fantastic full length CD Yoyodyne. Yoyodyne is the name of the secretive and possibly malevolent corporation in Thomas Pynchon’s book ‘The Crying of Lot 49’. You can preview many of the tracks in the player above. You can also download some MP3s to check out for yourself here: Free Projekt A-ko MP3s!


We caught up with Fergus and Elaine via the internet and convinced them to answer some of our highly suspect questions!

Viva: What's the most embarassing band you loved as a kid?
Fergus: Steeleye Span, still got a soft spot for them.
Elaine: My parents had a collection of those Top of the Pops albums with the saucy record sleeves and the dodgy cover versions. I didn't know they were cover versions for years and thought it was a band. That's pretty embarrassing.

Viva: Who smells the worst in van after a show?
Fergus: I do. I always sit as far away from myself as possible.
Elaine: Ian, no question. But then he is usually driving so it's best not to mention it or you could get left behind at a service station.

Viva: If Eiko Magami invited you to the Graviton High School prom, what song would you most want to slow dance to?
Fergus: Joe Le Taxi by Vanessa Paradis, just to maximize that kitsch ‘80s vibe.
Elaine: Little Trouble Girl by Kim Gordon/Kim Deal

Viva: What's the funniest thing that has happened to you on the road?
Fergus: Our dressing room got robbed in New York. That wasn't particularly funny, in fact we were very stressed out. We went back to the hotel room after the show and drank vodka while Ian phoned his insurance company in the UK. It was a bad line and whoever was handling the call wasn't used to Scottish accents. Ian kept on having to shout and repeat himself. Eventually they asked him to spell his name using call signs. He was having an increasingly hard time being understood and coming up with words for letters and when he got to the 'G' in Graham he said 'G for Gnome'. You had to be there.
Elaine: I once saw a woman with an accordian fall in a hole back stage at Pheonix festival. What a brilliant noise.

Viva: What other band names did you seriously consider before going with Projekt A-ko?
Fergus: None, it was a no-brainer once we found out about the connections between the Urusei Yatsura and Projekt A-ko films.
Elaine: I can't really say as we still might use them one day.

Viva: Who's in heavy rotation on your iPod?
Fergus: 'Yoyodyne' by Projekt A-ko, embarrassingly. I've just got a random play guy so I cleared everything else off to listen to the album when I got the final cut and I've yet to find time to put anything else back on.
Elaine: My iPod is busted so there are ghost tracks on it that I can't delete which fill up a load of space, luckily for me these are mainly from Sonic Youth's Sonic Nurse album.

Viva: What was the worst fight over nothing that you got into with each other after being road weary and exhausted?
Fergus: Can dolphins eat crisps. You know, trying to open the packets with flippers would be pretty tricky.
Elaine: We excel at these kind of arguments. Take your pick:
What is the best way to eat a chocolate eclair (the sweet not the cake)?
Cricket - what's the point?
Posters - is it ever acceptable to have a bands big fat faces on them?
Top of the Pops - don't get Ian started.....





Tags: projekt a-ko yoyodyne

First MP3 Released From New Polvo Record!!

Thanks to the fine folks at Merge Records, we all get a sneak peak at the first new MP3 from Polvo's In Prism due out Sept 8th. The song is "Beggars Bowl". It's pretty darn great. Enjoy!

Download Beggars Bowl MP3!

Tags: polvo beggars bowl mp3

7 Silly Questions w/ Hot Lava!

Twenty seconds after pressing play on my iPod to listen to the song Apple+Option+Fire, Richmond, VA’s Hot Lava had me in their corner. Their refreshing brand of indie pop is so infectious, you might just have to call the CDC to get their songs out of your head. The release of Lavalogy on Bar/None Records last fall cemented their place as one of the most entertaining and most respected indie bands in the country.

Hot Lava started out as art school buddies, Allison was design focused, Jared and Andrew did film and Matt did illustration and design. Their background had them playing in galleries and underground warehouse parties. “When we started playing live in late 2006, we didn't really have a niche. We played with a lot of local bands, but there wasn't a lot of chemistry at times,” explains Allison “We started playing shows with out of town bands (The Videohippos, The SadCobras) a couple months later and realized that we were all pretty likeminded folks. We've all networked a little now, and we’re part of a community that sort of spans up and down the East Coast. We're all friends of friends of friends and fans of each other's music. The internet has sort of fueled a new weird music revolution that's happening right now.”


We caught up with Hot Lava “boss” Allison Lava via the interwebs and told her if she didn’t answer our questions we would simply die. Thankfully, Allison spared our lives and agreed to answer some highly suspect interrogatives.

Viva: What's the most embarassing band you loved as a kid?
Allison: I really, really like Tracy Bonham. Mother Mother was the shit. She dispeared.

Viva: Who smells the worst in van after a show?
Allison: We all smell terrible!

Viva: Better Hot Lava song - South Park or B-52s?
Allison: B-52s for sure.

Viva: What's the funniest thing that has happened to you on the road?
Allison: Jared and Matt smashing beer cans against their heads to see if they can break them...their skulls and the cans.

Viva: Who would win in a fight? Unicorns....or Narwhals?
Allison: Unicorns. Narwhals can suck it.

Viva: Who's in heavy rotation on your iPod?
Allison: XTC & The Zombies

Viva: What was the worst fight over nothing that you got into with each
other after being road weary and exhausted?
Allison: I am always secretly pissed that I'm "not allowed" to drive the van. Although, sometimes I drive.



Download Mummy Beach MP3!
Download Apple+Option+Fire MP3

Check out these great Hot Lava videos!




*The second paragraph was taken from their Bar/None press page! It was written better than the crap we were coming up with!
Tags:hot lava lavalogy

Jenny Lewis - Black Sand Video!

Great new video from Jenny Lewis off last year's Acid Tongue.




Tags: jenny lewis black sand video

Woods - To Clean Video

Woods have released a gruesomely great video for their song "To Clean" off their 4th album Song of Shame! Enjoy!



Tags: woods to clean video

Moustache of Insanity - Moustache of Insanity

Ok, these guys are officially one of our favorite new twee pop bands. Hailing from the UK, Moustache of Insanity tackles mundane subject matter with such maniacal glee that you can't help but to laugh your ass off. Their debut EP Moustache of Insanity on Wee Pop Records has songs about Uno, gloating over beating your girlfriend's ass at pool (even though she doesn't know how to play), getting a deal on remnant biscuits at the biscuit factory tour, and a host of other delightful subjects. If you like to have a good time, we urge you to check these guys out. If you like to stand around at shows, arms folded, staring at your shoes, pretending not to be impressed by anything, we urge you to fuck right off, then go check these guys out.

Tags:moustache of insanity

Little Tybee - I Wonder Which House the Fish Will Live In

Atlanta's Little Tybee are releasing their fantastic, 7 song debut EP I Wonder Which House the Fish Will Live In on July 14th. I've not experienced a band that so beautifully incorporates cheesy 70s style electric piano and casiotone drum beats, with violin, real piano, and traditional musical arrangements. There is a sincere quality in the vocal performances that quickly endears the listener to the material. Check out their free download "Glass Brigade." It's pretty great, but hardly the best track on the album. I highly recommend "Dear Emily" and the title track "I Wonder Which House the Fish Will Live In." Little Tybee really are doing their own thing, which is really saying something in this day and age where so many bands sound alike.

Download Glass Brigade MP3!


Tags: little tybee