Amplifier Offering Exclusive Download For Ticket Holders

A message from Amplifier...

"It's been a year. The Octopus is still going strong. But we know that a lot of people have been wondering what will be happening next...

*MYSTORIA

To tie in with our UK tour, we're giving all ticket holders a very very special sneak preview of what to expect. For a very limited period - We are giving away a free download track as a teaser for next year. We did this very successfully with "The Wave" from The Octopus, so we're going to do it again.

*SILVIO

"Silvio" will probably be a future single from Mystoria. Fate has decided that now was a particularly apt time to let people hear it. We love how that works. Mixed by UK master Chris Sheldon (Amplifier, Oceansize, Biffy Clyro, Foo Fighters) and mastered by US maestro Steve Fallone (TV On The Radio, The Strokes). We are very pleased.

All ticketing pre-sales for the December UK tour will be accompanied by a download code. This will be sent out by our arrangement with the ticketing agents.

If you already have bought a ticket - don't worry - you will still be sent your download code.

Tour Dates:

Sun 4/12/11 Nottingham Rock City
Mon 05/12/11 Glasgow Cathouse
Tues 06/12/11 York The Duchess
Weds 07/12/11 Wolves Slade Rooms
Thurs 08/12/11 Colchester Arts Centre
Fri 09/12/11 London Islington Academy
Sun 11/12/11 Manchester Academy 3
Mon 12/12/11 Bristol Fleece

You can still get a download of 'Planet Of Insects' HERE, and watch the accompanying video below.

Mojo Fury Release New Song For FREE Download + More

[press release] With the band's UK Tour supporting Amplifier starting next week, a nomination for "Best New band" at the Artrocker Awards on Friday and a slot at Eurosonic Festival in January confirmed, Mojo Fury are giving away a new track to celebrate. Grab the free download of "El" HERE [or stream below].

A message from lead vocalist Mike Morcheeba... "The song is called "el". Go and turn it up and see if there is anything in it for you! We are about to go on tour, we are about to record our album, we are about to be real happy!"

UK Tour supporting Amplifier:

4th December - Nottingham, Rock City Basement
5th December - Glasgow , Cathouse
6th December - York, The Duchess
7th December - Wolverhampton, Slade Rooms
8th December - Colchester, Arts Centre
9th December - London, Islington Academy
11th December - Manchester, Academy 3
12th December - Bristol, Fleece and Firkin

European dates:

11th January - Amsterdam, Winston
12th January - Groningen, EUROSONIC FESTIVAL
13th January - Rotterdam, Exit
14th January - Tilburg, 013
15th January - Haarlem, Patronaat

MUST HEAR: Speedy Ortiz Releases "The Death of Speedy Ortiz" For FREE Download

Speedy Ortiz, the solo project of Quilty's Sarah Dupius, has released their debut full length The Death of Speedy Ortiz for FREE download on Bandcamp. Exploding In Sound can't possibly recommend this enough. We've been going over our "Top 40 Albums of 2011" list for the past few weeks, and Speedy Ortiz definitely ranks with the best of them. The influence of early 90s indie guitar rock and lo-fi grunge present a raw simplicity that flourishes thanks to the gorgeous and haunting vocal melodies and dazzling guitar tone. Dupius' songwriting talents are on display in full force shimmering over buzzing guitars, overwhelmingly dense bass lines, and thick blistering melodies that stick like glue. There is an undeniable stoner charm hidden in the swirling noise, and the "slacker" spirit and soul of Speedy Ortiz allows the warm home recordings to sound enormous. With a solo debut as good as The Death of Speedy Ortiz, we can only hope this is just the beginning. Stay tuned for more from Speedy Ortiz in the near future and be sure to follow on Facebook for updates.

DOWNLOAD THE ALBUM HERE. STREAM BELOW.



Photo courtesy of Sarah Gainer via Quilty's Facebook page.

Quick Notes: The Black Keys, Fucked Up, Sonic Youth + More

*[consequenceofsound.net] The Black Keys’ seventh LP, El Camino, is out December 6th via Nonesuch. Right now, however, you can stream five of the album’s tracks on the band’s website [link above]. After sharing an email address, zip code, and country of origin, you’ll gain early access to “Lonely Boy”, “Gold on the Ceiling”, “Little Black Submarines”, “Sister”, and “Run Right Back”.

Produced by Danger Mouse and The Black Keys, the 11-track album was recorded at singer/guitarist Dan Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in the band’s new hometown of Nashville during the Spring of 2011. Pre-orders for CD, vinyl, and digital packages are now ongoing.

*[consequenceofsound.net] In commemoration of their upcoming stay aboard the Bruise Cruise, Toronto hardcore band Fucked Up has offered up a rare track for a new split single with The Dirtbombs. Even out of season, “I Hate Summer” is a maddeningly simple, yet unequivocally furious punk gem, a return to simpler musical times after the band’s last LP, the grandiose David Comes to Life. Check out the song below; cruise guests will receive a copy of the single in their gift bags.

Fucked Up "I Hate Summer" by Bruise Cruise

HERE you’ll find video of Fucked Up celebrating Christmas in their own special, heartwarming way. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s also a handy announcement for the Bruise Cruise. Said oceanic endeavour goes down February 10th-13th, 2012 and also features performances from Thee Oh Sees, The Soft Pack, King Khan and the Shrines, and many more (ticket info is available here.), Fucked Up frontman Damian Abraham has also been tapped as the cruise director. So, expect a wrestling match or two thrown in between sets and Jell-O shots by the bar.

*[pitchfork.com] Lee Ranaldo tells Rolling Stone that he remains hopeful regarding the future of Sonic Youth, despite Thurston and Kim's recent separation. As previously reported, Matador will release Ranaldo's solo album on March 20.

"I'm feeling optimistic about the future no matter what happens at this point. I mean, every band runs its course. We've been together way longer than any of us ever imagined would happen and it's been for the most part an incredibly pleasurable ride. There's still a lot of stuff we're going to continue to do. There's tons and tons of archival projects and things like that that are still going on, so there are so many ways in which we are tied to each other for the future both musically and in other ways."

*[pitchfork.com] In an interview with MTV News Canada, Mastodon's Troy Sanders says that they're actually taking Feist up on her offer to collaborate. The metal act will cover a Feist song and in turn, Feist will take a Mastodon song and "pretty it up" for a split 7", which they plan to release for next year's Record Store Day. Metals meets metal, indeed! Watch the brief interview with Sanders, below.



*[stereogum.com] Kids wiling out; a thematic appeal that shall never die out. The new video from Cymbals Eats Guitars for “Keep Me Waiting” features a lot of smashing, punching and running by bored teens. Youth! Check out the Adam Kurland-directed clip below. Lenses Alien is out now on Barsuk.



*In the third episode with Les Savy Fav's Tim Harrington at the helm, the On The Road van reaches Austin, Texas and in particular a psychedelic music family camped out in a disused power plant. Psychfest curator and headliners The Black Angels explain how and why them and some friends playing music in a bar turned into a movement.

Psychfest only lasts 3 days but for most people there it feels like at least a year. In a good way.

TinyRadars Records Featured in The Valley Advocate

[valleyadvocate.com] It takes guts to start a record label, given the current state of the music industry. It takes even more to start one up that specializes in vinyl and aims to operate as a nonprofit.

None of the above daunted Bunny's A Swine's Candace Clement, who boldly launched TinyRadars this year in Northampton. To celebrate its creation, Clement is curating TinyRadar's Bookmill Residency in Montague, a series of monthly shows featuring "bands that love music, the Bookmill, each other, and you."

Clement drew inspiration from some of indie rock's finest labels as she formulated her attack.

"There's a little bit from lots of them in there," she explains. "The local orientation of Dischord, the family of transitioning musicians from band to band that you saw in Teen Beat, the early heydays of Kill Rock Stars—it was easy to feel like you were somehow connected to people even if they were thousands of miles away. Growing up, labels were a way to uncover a whole scene of musicians that held similar beliefs or created complementary work. They were really important for me as I was discovering music. I hope that we can, in some small way, provide some sort of documentation for what was happening in the Northampton area music scene in 2011."

All releases will be available as a digital download or on vinyl plus digital download. Clement says she's a big fan of digital music, and as someone who frequently carried around a 200-disc CD binder, she was thrilled when portable MP3 players hit the market. But she believes it was critical to offer a physical component.

"Digital has all these great features: it can exist in multiple places at the same time, it can travel the globe basically for free, it lowers the barrier to both recording and releasing music," she says, "but digital things disappear easily. And the more we move away from doing things like printing books or pressing records, the more we are just relying on the servers of giant companies to store that information for us. What happens when they go away? What kind of record are we actually leaving behind for the future? You can't exactly hold an MP3 in your hand. Artwork exists in a different way on a record. Plus, vinyl is just really fun to collect."

TinyRadars kicked off with two releases in October: a Graph seven-inch and the full-length All Day, Alright from Clement's Bunny's A Swine. Clement says that members of both bands were integral in getting the albums out and the label off the ground.

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

The Life and Times Ready "No One Loves You Like I Do"

[theprp.com] The Life And Times will release their new outing ”No One Loves You Like I Do” on January 17th through SlimStyle Records. A DVD effort will follow the effort a few months after with a release date currently pending.

Furthermore, the band will begin touring in support of the new release early next year with the following shows lined up so far:

01/18 Kansas City – Riot Room
01/19 Denton, TX – Dan’s Silver Leaf
01/21 Tucson, AZ – Plush
01/22 Los Angeles, CA – The Satellite
01/23 San Francisco, CA – Cafe Du Norde
01/25 Phoenix, AZ – Rhythm Room
01/27 Norman, OK – The Opolis
01/28 St Louis, MO – The Firebird
02/24 Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle
02/25 Grand Rapids, MI – Pyramid Scheme
02/27 New York, NY – Knitting Factory
02/28 Boston, MA – O’Briens
02/29 Philadelphia, PA – Kung Fu Necktie
03/01 Washington, DC – Black Cat Backstage
03/02 Atlanta, GA – Drunken Unicorn

Radical Dads Announce "Holidad Radtacular"

A hilarious and informative message from Radical Dads...

"Dear Cyber Monday Survivors,

We know you are likely recovering from a shopping bender of Homeric proportions, but if you purchase just one more object this year, perhaps it should be a ticket to our next show — the Radical Dads Holidad Radtacular — taking place next Wednesday, December 7th, at Webster Hall in New York City.

You've seen us play in dingy clubs that smell like bleach; now's your chance to cross one more thing off your bucket list and see us play a tarted-up auditorium that smells like Matthew McConaughey. We'll be accompanied by a 92-piece children's orchestra, a flock or herd or gaggle or whatever it's called of reindeer, 12 retired Rockettes who still got the moves, and an aging castrato ready for his final curtain call.

Also appearing live onstage during the Holidad Radtacular will be Clap Your Hands Say Yeah [sic] and Waters, who may or may not be the actual John Waters. You decide.

According to the numbers guys we keep on retainer, there are not many tickets left, so we kindly exhort you to secure your tickets now >>>

Happy shopping, people! We'll be in touch soon regarding more things you can buy from us."

xo,
RD

Introducing: Turn To Crime (ex-Awesome Color)

Turn To Crime is the hypnotic grooving new project from former Awesome Color vocalist/guitarist Derek Stanton. His debut album under the new moniker TTC was released on 11/11/11 and can be found on his official Bandcamp page HERE. The songs are simplistic yet big and booming with expansive lo-fi psych rock explorations. A bio from the band's Last.FM page reads...

"TURN TO CRIME, the solo project of Detroit musician Derek Stanton, is somewhat reminiscent of Big Star with psychic instrumental guitar reflections turning into deep pop, only with a more motorik rhythmic feel.

At live performances TTC sings and plays guitar & synth along to music & video art mixed down to VHS, pumped through a wall of amps and a projector, creating … a nice time indeed."

Stream the entire album below.

Quick Notes: Soundgarden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Bronx + More

*[theprp.com] Soundgarden have rolled out the following two Australian headlining shows with The Bronx as support to compliment their stint at next years “Big Day Out“.

01/25 Sydney, AUS – Sydney Entertainment Centre
02/01 Melbourne, AUS – Sidney Myer Music Bowl

*[press release] Multi-platinum rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers will launch the North American leg of their I'm With You World Tour in January. Tickets for six shows go on sale on December 3rd (see below for routing) with more shows and ticket on-sale dates to be announced in the coming weeks. The 2012 arena tour will be the band's first full-scale tour of the U.S. since 2007 when they hit the road in support of 2006's Stadium Arcadium.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are currently touring Europe through mid-December in support of I'm With You, which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart and No. 1 on Billboard's Rock and Alternative album charts, as well as on the Top Internet Albums and iTunes Top Alternative Albums chart. The first single "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie," hit the top spot at Modern Rock radio, giving the band its 12th No. 1 at the format. A second single, "Monarchy of the Roses" is currently the No. 2 greatest gainer on Mediabase's Alternative chart.

01/25 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena
01/27 Raleigh, NC RBC Center
01/28 Columbia, SC ColonialLife Arena
01/30 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena
01/31 Greensboro, NC Greensboro Coliseum
02/03 Memphis, TN FedEx Forum

*[theprp.com] Deftones & Far offshoot ††† (aka Crosses) will play what may wind up being their first show ever at The Glass House in Pomona, CA. The band are scheduled to perform at the aforementioned venue on January 31st with Secret Empire also on the bill. The band recently began scheduling a number of overseas festival stops, which thus far include:

03/31-04/01 Santiago, CHL – Parque O’Higgins (“Lollapalooza Chile“)
04/02 Buenos Aires, ARG – Estadio River Plate (“Quilmes Rock 2012“)

*[sleepovershows.com] We visited the Dirty Dishes to capture some songs off their new EP. Their show will be up soon, but for now, here’s a teaser.

Smashing Pumpkins' "Gish" + "Siamese Dream" Reissues Earn "Best New Reissue" on Pitchfork

[pitchfork.com] I remember reading a desert-island-albums list by Billy Corgan in 1993 that was so scarily like my own musical arc-- pop/prog/metal nerd discovers goth, Jane's Addiction, and My Bloody Valentine-- that I couldn't have been more designed for Smashing Pumpkins hyperfandom if I tried. Like no one before him, Corgan made those influences work. As Canadian writer Jennifer Nine once put it in Melody Maker, you got a sense that he was the kind of guy who worked out every last transcription from Guitar Player in the 1980s and then actually did something with it. It helped that the rest of the band had their own skills, especially in the case of Jimmy Chamberlin, a jazz/hard-rock drum freak let loose on alt-rock radio.

Alt-rock radio, at its height of commercial trendsetting, enabled the Pumpkins to not merely survive but thrive. There, Corgan could have his cake and eat it too, daring people to get annoyed at his starlust and reacting in kind while further building up his ambitions. He got his band signed to a major label and used the fig leaf of a corporate indie release for Gish, scored a prime spot on the Seattle-focused Singles soundtrack with "Drown", essentially went "Haters gonna hate" with Siamese Dream's first single "Cherub Rock", and got petulant when any other acts or writers accused him of protesting too much. And not just Pavement, either: "You hurt me deeply in my heart," he once infamously pouted to Kim Thayil before a 1994 Australian concert, following which the Pumpkins went on "to play the best set anybody has ever heard them play."

All of which goes some distance toward explaining why both reissues of Gish and Siamese Dream-- appropriately loaded with rarities, DVD bonuses, fancy packaging, and often-impressionistic song-for-song liner notes by Corgan-- remain remarkable though unequal listens. Even in 1991, Gish felt like something that started off well with songs like "Siva" and "Rhinoceros" but meandered a bit toward the end. Corgan's voice never sounded as lost in his music as it does here, and most of the emphasis is on the band's collective performance: Chamberlin's powerful, fluid drumming, Darcy Wretzky's strong basslines, and that thick, chunky glaze of guitars.

The rarities disc contains a few never-before-heard numbers, a few that have long circulated among fanatics (the Corgan-sung version of "Daydream" is a keeper), and a handful of remixed selections (including their best full-on rock epic, "Starla") that first surfaced on a full-length release via the odds-and-ends release Pisces Iscariot. These tracks do a better job of showcasing the band's various sonic sides than Gish itself. The DVD, a multi-camera cut from a live show at the Metro in Chicago almost a year prior to Gish's release, shows that the band already had their exact arrangements pretty well down, as well as a worshipping fanbase. The highlights include Corgan and James Iha's heavily long hair, curious fashion choices all around, and set-closing covers of Steppenwolf and Blue Öyster Cult; the video quality is pretty good and the sound mix, if heavily favoring the vocals, beats out most bootlegs of the time.

In contrast to Gish's steady flow, Siamese Dream crashes out of the gate. "Cherub Rock" remains an absolutely stellar opener with a sense of pure sonic melodrama, thanks to Chamberlin's circus-act drum introduction, a tight clip of guitars quickly matched by equally nimble bass, a volcanic blast of a guitar lead, and then a shift to a woozy, still-building sprawl. And all this before the first verse even starts. Throw in everything that followed-- the overt MBV worship of "Hummer", the country-rock-tinged wanderlust of "Mayonaise", "Soma"'s update of Prince's "The Beautiful Ones" for a new decade, and inevitably the MTV/radio hits "Today", "Disarm", and "Rocket"-- and no matter your take on its mastermind or his divisive whining/sighing vocals, it's an embarrassment of musical riches.

READ THE ENTIRE "SIAMESE DREAM/GISH" REISSUE REVIEW HERE.

Tera Melos Perform Live on Exclaim TV

[exclaim.ca] In accordance with requests from fans, the Exclaim! TV crew brings you a second edit from Tera Melos' performance of "Aped" from their 2010 album Patagonian Rats.

So for those who wish to listen to the performance without interruption, check out the performance of "Aped," re-edited without the interview portion below. Also included below is their performance of "Trident Trail," which is also from Patagonian Rats. Enjoy.

You can also watch Tera Melos get interviewed and perform "Kelly," on Exclaim! TV HERE.

Le Butcherettes' Teri Gender Bender Interviewed in LA Weekly

[blogs.laweekly.com] This week's feature story is about Teri Gender Bender -- neé Teri Suarez -- of Le Butcherettes. Let's just say she has no intentions of going quietly. She drenches herself in blood, she screams, she thrashes her guitar, and, oh yeah, she pees onstage. Meanwhile, the wild, melodic rock from her band's bristling album Sin Sin Sin won the attention of critics at Lollapalooza and South By Southwest. On Thursday, Dec. 1, the trio opens for the Stooges at the Hollywood Palladium; there's no telling what to expect. In any case, it goes without saying that Teri Gender Bender is a fantastic interview, and here are some quotes from our interview that didn't make the story.

The meaning of her song "Dress Off":
People at school always wanted to see legs. I went to a private school in Mexico, and you had to wear a uniform, and the uniform was a very short skirt - I hated that - and a nice little sweater. I made a petition trying to get girls the option of wearing pants, like the guys did. Even girls didn't want to sign it, because they thought if they were sign it they'd be less sexy. So I was like, uh, fuck it, take everything off, take my uniform off and go to school naked. That's what you want, right? You want to see skin, I'll give you skin.

Before punk rock, she was a teen poet:
It was great for me, but when I opened myself up to friends or to frenemies, they'd read it and they wouldn't understand it, so there was another sense of frustration of not being understood. It's the same thing in music - people are not going to understand your music all the time. You basically fall into the same things over and over again. I keep telling myself, "Your problems aren't special. Just embrace what's around you. Focus on the good things of life.

On loving the Spice Girls:
I grew up listening to the Spice Girls. I never thought I was going to end up being in a band. I'd always wanted to be a singer. I'd be in the shower and I'd be coming up with my dance moves - Posh Spice! I found the path.

READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE.

Sleeper Agent Announce New Tour Dates

[press release] Sleeper Agent is playing a few radio festival holiday shows in addition to a SOLD OUT show with AWOLNATION and select dates with their hometown friends Cage The Elephant and the Joy Formidable. Sleeper Agent also plan on ringing in the new year with a special New Year's Eve concert with Cage The Elephant and Company of Thieves at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago!

Tour Dates:

11/29 - Columbus, OH - CD101 Holiday Show - LC Pavilion (w/ Cage the Elephant + more)
11/30 - Pittsburgh, PA - The X's Holiday Office Party - STAGE AE (w/ Cage The Elephant + more)
12/01 - Norfolk, VA - 96X Winter Meltdown - Constant Center (w/ Bush, Cage the Elephant + more)
12/03 Tampa Bay, FL - 97X Next Big Thing - 1-800-ASK-GARY Amphitheatre (w/ Bush, Cage The Elephant, Manchester Orchestra + more)
12/04 Jacksonville, FL - X102.9 The Big Ticket - Met Park (w/ Manchester Orchestra, Middle Class Rut + more)
12/07 Portland - Crystal Ballroom w/ AWOLNATION - SOLD OUT
12/13 St Louis, MO - The Pageant w/ Cage the Elephant and The Joy Formidable
12/15 Milwaukee - The Rave w/ Cage the Elephant and The Joy Formidable
12/16 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue Theatre w/ The Joy Formidable
12/31 Chicago, IL - Aragon Ballroom w/ Cage the Elephant and The Joy Formidable
1/19/12 - 1/23/12 - Miami Weezer Cruise

Fugazi Launch Live Series Website

[pitchfork.com] In typical econo-punk fashion, Fugazi will soon sell you approximately 800 of their concerts for a suggested price of $5 each, on a sliding scale, via Dischord's new Fugazi Live Series website. The archive launches with its initial 130 concerts on December 1, but a beta version went live last week. Additional content will be posted regularly following the launch.

With hopes of creating "a complete archive of the Fugazi live experience," the site will host audio from globe-spanning shows performed by the band from 1987 to 2003, as well as corresponding photographs, ticket stubs, posters, and other archival memorabilia. A $500 "All Access" option will allow fans to download all audio content ever posted to the archive, and, as Dischord notes, it will help fund the production of the site.

Each downloadable gig has a free-to-view "show page", offering show stats, visuals, a streamable preview tracks, and a comments section. You can browse gigs by year, city, song, state, country, or venue.

Preview the site in beta version HERE.

The Nocturnes Debut "Love" Video

[press release] The Nocturnes -- the band led by Red Sparowes guitarist Emma Ruth Rundle -- premiere a new video today from their second album, Aokigahara. Consequence of Sound hosts the clip for the track, "Love" available to watch HERE [or below].

Los Angeles' largest music publication L.A. Record offers a free flexi disc of the song "Love" inside their current issue -- a first for the innovative paper. RCRD LBL hosts an MP3 for the track for those unable to acquire the flexi disc. Stream/download HERE. The entire album is available for streaming and download via The Nocturnes' Bandcamp page [link above].

The Nocturnes are the folkgaze brainchild of guitarist/vocalist Emma Ruth Rundle. While the band began as a duo in 2007 and built a cult following prior to her joining Red Sparowes in 2009, Aokigahara is nonetheless a dramatic rebirth for The Nocturnes. Featuring a revamped quartet lineup, the 8-song album ventures into multiple textures of style and sound that create a lush haze of melody that blends hints of folk, shoegaze, chamber pop, goth and post-rock.

Rundle is joined on this recording by guitarist/vocalist Julian Rifkin, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Paris Patt and drummer Dave Clifford (also of Red Sparowes). Aokigahara was written collectively, combining the different styles and personalities of the players. Some of the songs were built from Rundle's unrecorded older songs, others were written by Rifkin ("Craving", "Hello Neighbor") and others penned as a group ("Aokigahara", "The Road"). The album takes a more ethereal approach -- leaving behind the more direct vocal and rock-leaning song structures of the band's earlier releases -- for a new sound awash with reverb, drifting voices and harmonies, atmospheric guitars, Twin Peaks-esque bass lines and orchestral style drumming.

As a duo featuring Rundle and drummer Daniel Yasmin, The Nocturnes released their debut Wellington EP in January 2008 while based in New Zealand. Upon returning to Los Angeles, the duo issued the full length A Year of Spring the following year. In this time, Rundle formed a close musical connection with Patt, who contributed bass guitar to the debut album. The Live on KXLU EP released in 2010 shows hints of what was to come, as Rundle was joined by Rifkin for the drum-less session when Yasmin was unable to play. He left the band shortly thereafter, relocating to the Bay Area.

In 2010 the newly solidified quartet recorded a set of songs in Venice, CA in what was once a studio space used by the Beach Boys. In a way, you can almost hear the famous Wilson clan's melancholic harmonies and saturated Wall of Sound within the somber, pliant and thoroughly soaring songs of Aokigahara. The album was released August 30th on LP, CD and download.

"The most beautiful music I've heard in ages." - Invisible Oranges

The Nocturnes - "Love" from Cluster 1 on Vimeo.

Brokaw Ready "Interiors" For January Release

[press release] The word "Brokaw" stirs up all kinds of connotations. There's the stern voice of reason held by news anchor Tom Brokaw, the expressive and colorful guitar playing of former Come/Codeine member Chris Brokaw... and now, the sound of one of the meatiest and meanest rock groups to emerge from Seattle, Washington.

"We chose the name because it's simple yet has some very complex associations," says Brokaw's bass player Stuart Dahlquist. "And masculine which might reflect our music/composition process accurately."

No one who has ever seen the band live would deny that they are a masculine group. The four members of Brokaw - Dahlquist, vocalist Mike Henderson, guitarist Rick Troy, and drummer Rich Medic - sweat and strain through every minute of their sets. Henderson often challenges the safety of his audience by wielding the mic stand over his and their heads, while the rest of the band churn out buzzing, brutal rock behind him. They burn so hot, you expect them to burst into flames at any moment.

And, yes, there is complexity to it as well. But we would expect nothing less from a group with the pedigree that Brokaw has. Dahlquist has worked with such iconic groups as Asva, Goatsnake, and Sunn 0))). The rest of the band are rock lifers in their own right, working in a variety of Seattle outfits like Hungry Crocodlies, Magnaaflux, and Hitshed.

But what makes the band so vital and so compelling how obviously they gel both on record and on stage. The members of Brokaw have been playing together "on and off for a very long time," says Dahlquist. "I have been playing music with Rick for around 35 years, the two of us have worked with Mike since meeting at music school in 1984, Rich has been in and out of the picture for at least 10 years. We've been friends for a long time and have a great chemistry together, we all love playing music and it comes easily for us."

You'll hear right from the start of the band's debut LP Interiors, to be released this winter on the new Seattle label Good To Die Records. Recorded with Steve Norman at Electrical Audio in Chicago, Illinois, Brokaw fed off the live current that runs through the band and the studio. Their hyperdriven barrage of sound pulls from the influences of the Amphetamine Reptile family (Melvins, Halo of Flies, Hammerhead, the Jesus Lizard), while acknowledging a wide variety of interests like the freeform '70s work of Miles Davis and the swing of cheeky, literate Britpop band The Fall.

Live, on record, and in person, Brokaw put their backs, their hearts, and their balls into everything they do. They don't ask you to do the same, just to pay your respects and enjoy every sweat-drenched minute of it.

Kylesa Announce Massive European Tour

[lambgoat.com] Kylesa will team up with Circle Takes The Square and KEN mode early next year for an extensive tour of Europe. Dates are as follows:

13/01 Germany Oberhausen @ Kraftwerk in der Turbinenhalle
14/01 Belgium Brussels @ Magasin 4
15/01 France Paris @ Glazart
16/01 France Montpellier @ Secret Place
17/01 Spain Madrid @ Ritmo y Compás
18/01 Portugal Porto @ Hard Club
19/01 Portugal Lisboa @ Santiago Alquimista
20/01 Spain Bilbao @ Sala Azkena
21/01 Spain Barcelona @ Salamandra 1
22/01 France La Rochelle @ La Sirene
23/01 France TBA
24/01 Switzerland Zürich @ Abart
25/01 Germany München @ Feierwerk
26/01 Austria Wien @ Arena
27/01 Italy Milano @ Lo-Fi
28/01 Germany Schweinfurt @ Alter Stattbahnhof
29/01 Poland Poznan @ Blue Note
30/01 Germany Berlin @ Magnet
31/01 Germany Hamburg @ Logo
02/02 Finland Tampere @ Klubi
03/02 Finland Helsinki @ Nosturi
04/02 Finland Jyväskylä @ Lutakko
06/02 Sweden Stockholm @ Lava
07/02 Sweden TBA
08/02 Norway Trondheim @ Klubben
09/02 Norway Oslo @ Blå
10/02 Norway Bergen @ Garage
11/02 Norway Stavanger @ Folken
13/02 Denmark Aarhus @ Train
14/02 Denmark Copenhagen @ Beta
15/02 Germany Leipzig @ Conne Island
16/02 Germany Karlsruhe @ Jubez
17/02 France Reims @ La Cartonnerie
18/02 Netherlands Nijmegen @ Doornroosje
19/02 UK Brighton @ The Haunt
20/02 UK Birmingham @ HMV Institute Temple
21/02 UK Leeds @ The Well
22/02 Ireland Dublin @ Button Factory
23/02 UK London @ O2 Academy Islington
24/02 France Evreux @ L'Abordage
25/02 France Quimper @ Les Hivernauts
26/02 France Lille @ Aeronef

Band of Skulls Interviewed on Music Radar

[musicradar.com] "The first time I heard about us being a 'buzz band' was when you mentioned it to me for that first MusicRadar interview," says Band Of Skulls singer-guitarist Russell Marsden.

"That was a strange time, actually. It was nice to know that people were talking about us rather quickly, but I really can't get caught up in hype. It starts messing you up. You start thinking about the wrong things. We've been this little band for a while now, and we like having our bubble where we can be happy. We try not to let a lot of other stuff in that can burst that bubble."

Dressed in black and sporting sunglasses, Marsden certainly looks the part of a rock star - as do his similarly attired bandmates, co-singer and bassist Emma Richardson and drummer Matt Hayward. The Southampton trio sit in the lounge of New York City's Standard Hotel, going through a couple of rounds of Pils as they discuss Sweet Sour, their raging new record (due out 21 February) that makes good on all of the fiery promises put forth on the group's 2009 debut, Darling Baby Doll Face Honey.

"I think we put a few new wrinkles on this whole rock 'n' roll thing," says Hayward. "Obviously, so much has been done already. Being original...that's a pretty sizable order in this day and age. But we've got our own sound, and it seems to work for people. I think we can stretch things out pretty far if Sweet Sour does well."

And with that, almost on cue, all three band members simultaneously knock their knuckles on the wooden table, laughing at their matched reactions.

The concept of artist development is a vanishing one. Labels don't make long-term investments in bands anymore. How do you guys feel about the position you're in right now?

Matt Hayward: "Obviously, we're grateful. To have had the opportunity to make our first record is pretty remarkable, and now we've got our second album coming out – even more incredible. As they say, you only get one chance to make your first album, but the same is true for your second. There's no guidebook to tell you how to do any of this. But luckily, we're figuring it out."

Russell Marsden: "As friends and musicians, we've been together a lot longer than this incarnation. The Band Of Skulls part of things is still relatively new. We've always been in bands and played music, so we know how it feels to struggle and be under the radar, if you will. [laughs]

"Sure, we do feel lucky about where things are at for us. The industry doesn't operate as it used to where bands would make four or five albums before they broke big. The main thing to remember is that we've put in a lot of years getting to where we are. This didn't happen overnight at all. A lot of people in bands do forget that. They want shortcuts, and usually there aren't any."

Emma Richardson: "We try not to take anything for granted. But we want to enjoy all that's happening, too. It's a great privilege to have made a second album. Hopefully, we'll get to make a third and maybe a fourth. We'll see how it all goes."

READ THE ENTIRE INTERVIEW HERE.

The Flaming Lips Announce New Year's Eve Shows

[consequenceofsound.net] The Flaming Lips will close out their most adventurous year yet with their fifth annual New Year’s Freakout. The two-night party goes down December 31st, 2011 and January 1st, 2012 at Bricktown Events Center in the band’s hometown of Okalahoma City, Oklahoma.

According to a press release, the Yoko Ono Plastic Ono Band will appear as special guests for both nights. In addition, the Lips will be selling a number of their 2011 endeavors, including the now-infamous gummy fetus, their new live album The Soft Bulletin: Live La Fantastique de Institution 2011, and their six-hour long song “Found A Star On The Ground”, which comes packaged on a USB drive in a light illusion toy called The Strobo Trip. 10 points to whoever can get a picture with Yoko while holding up the gummy fetus.

Tickets go on sale today, Friday Nov 25th, and are priced at $100 per night or available at a special package price of $150 for both nights.

The band has also announced plans for a special holiday show in Aspen, Colorado on December 27th. Check out their current tour schedule below.

The Flaming Lips 2011-2012 Tour Dates:

12/27 – Aspen, CO @ The Bell Up
12/31 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Bricktown Events Center
01/01 – Oklahoma City, OK @ Bricktown Events Center

Arctic Monkeys Likely To Remain with Domino Records

[NME.com] Arctic Monkeys are set to snub interest from major record labels to re-sign with Domino Records, according to reports.

The Sheffield band have been with Domino since the release of their debut LP 'Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I'm Not', but Music Week reports that they have now fulfilled their current deal with the label after the release of their fourth album 'Suck It And See’.

A host of labels including Sony imprint Columbia are believed to be interested in signing Alex Turner and co, but their manager Ian McAndrew hinted that Domino were likely to be at the front of the queue when the band decide to look for a new deal.

"It is true that the latest album from Arctic Monkeys is their last under the current arrangement with Domino," he said, before adding:

"We have not entered into discussions with any other prospective label although we have received plenty of inquiries. Domino has been a great label for the band and afforded us fantastic support and therefore will be at the front of any future discussions we may have about further albums."

It was first reported in August that major labels were interested in signing Arctic Monkeys, when a source claimed that the expiration of their deal was set to cause "a huge bun fight".

In June, the band made chart history when they became only the second band ever to take four consecutive albums to the summit of the album charts with 'Suck It And See'.

Widowspeak Announce UK/European Tour Dates

Widowspeak are flying over the Atlantic, so come out to a show if you live in one of these cities!

NOVEMBER//
25 // LONDON, Brixton Windmill
26 // BRISTOL, Start the Bus
27 // MANCHESTER, The Castle
28 // LIVERPOOL, Mojo
29 // LONDON, Hoxton Underbelly
30 // UTRECHT, dB’s

DECEMBER//
1 // ROTTERDAM, Worm
2 // PARIS, Boutique Sonores festival
3 // BORDEAUX, Iboat
4 // BERN, Roessli/Reitschule
5 // BOLOGNA, Spazio Elastico
7 // VIENNA, Arena
8 // BERLIN, Monarch
9 // HAMBURG, Grunger Jaeger
10 // COPENHAGEN, KB
12 // STOCKHOLM, Debaser
13 // OSLO, Revolver



The band were recently featured in The Village Voice...

[villagevoice.com] The first show the Brooklyn band Widowspeak played, at the Brooklyn DIY venue Shea Stadium, was a rousing success—except for lead singer Molly Hamilton staring at the ground the entire time, breaking her guitar strap, and getting electrocuted.

"I was getting zapped in the mouth the whole time because something wasn't grounded, so I had to play through a hat on a microphone," Hamilton says over beers with the rest of the band at Pearl's Social & Billy Club in Bushwick. "At first, it was working because it was preventing me from getting shocked. And then it got wet because I had to get really close, so I was, like, breathing on it, and the condensation started making me get shocked worse than if I hadn't done that. Just a constant electric shock."

Much to the band's chagrin, a recording of that performance can be found online, but they'd rather you check out their self-titled debut (Captured Tracks), a collection of spare, haunting ballads that often recalls the Cowboy Junkies by way of early Low. Which is a tough sound to nail, actually. Plenty of bands aim for entrancing and end up with inert. For a solid chunk of their album, Widowspeak come off as brimming with potential, able to piece together sparse parts into songs that flow like gothic takes on AM-radio laments. On "Harsh Realm," the album's mesmerizing highlight, Widowspeak pull off the rare trick of making a song feel so inevitable it seems like it has always existed.

Although the inevitability was a bit prolonged. For the band's first several practices, Hamilton didn't sing. "You'd open your mouth and pretend you were singing," remembers guitarist Robert Earl Thomas while smiling at Hamilton, "but just no words." She was nervous about singing in front of someone she'd never met before, so she just told him she had a soft voice.

"At first, I was very reluctant," Hamilton says. "I'm almost so much of a control freak that I didn't at first sing in front of them because I was like, 'This isn't how it's supposed to sound in my head.'"

Thomas had been warned by his former NYU dormmate Michael Stasiak that Hamilton, an acquaintance of his from Tacoma, Washington, had songs and "a beautiful voice," but not much confidence.

"We had to get this band going really fast, or she was going to change her mind," Stasiak says. "So part of the push was calling her up and being like: 'Hey, what are you doing? I've got my drums. Let's go up on the roof and play.' I didn't want to lose it."

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

Quick Notes: Smashing Pumpkins, Minus The Bear, Far/Chi Cheng + More

*[FMQB.com] The Smashing Pumpkins' first two releases, Gish & Siamese Dream, are getting the fully remastered treatment, with EMI Music releasing both reissues on November 29 in North America and December 5 internationally. Both albums, each with bonus content and special features that were curated from the band’s archives by founding member Billy Corgan, have been painstakingly remastered for the first time from the original master tapes by Bob Ludwig.

Corgan recently sat down with Matt Pinfield to record an exclusive, extensive interview for FMQB Productions, delving into the history of Gish and Siamese Dream. Their conversation can be heard below:

The Smashing Pumpkins: Billy Corgan Talks Gish & Siamese Dream by FMQB Productions

*[punknews.org] With the conclusion of their 10th anniversary tour earlier this month, Minus The Bear have started talking about their next album, their fifth overall. The band will be entering the studio in January 2012 with plans to record and a release will presumably follow sometime in the year.

The band last released OMNI in 2010. Since then, the band reissued some of their early material including This Is What I Know About Being Gigantic and Highly Refined Pirates on vinyl and even cassette tape.

*[theprp.com] Tuesday saw the digital release of the A. Sarti Remix of Far‘s track “At Night We Live“. All proceeds from the track are being donated to the medical costs of Deftones bassist Chi Cheng. The more astute of you will also know that the original song itself was written for Cheng.

You can snag the new single over at iTunes. Meanwhile, more info on Cheng‘s ongoing recovery from his 2008 car accident can be found over at Oneloveforchi.com.

*[theprp.com] With the gap widening between CKY and frontman/guitarist Deron Miller, members of the band haven’t been shy about the bands future. A recent tweet from guitarist Chad I Ginsburg suggests that the groups upcoming December 18th Christmas show at Reverb in Reading, PA may be their last U.S. show.

Quick Notes: Primus, Craig Wedren, Blacklisters + More

*[theprp.com] Primus have announced their annual New Years Eve shows. The group will perform back to back sets (meaning two sets per show) on both December 31st and January 01st at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, CA.

In addition to that the band have been locked in for a European/UK run early next year which will be billed as “An Evening With Primus“. As the name suggests the trek will see the band perform two sets back to back each night and will run as follows:

03/23 Pordenone, ITA – Palasport
03/24 Brescia, ITA – Pala Eib
03/26 Fribourg, SWI – Fri-Son
03/29 Cologne, GER – Live Music Hall
04/01 Eindhoven, NET – Klokgebouw
04/02 Brussels, BEL – Ancienne Belgique
04/04 London, UK – Royal Albert Hall
04/05 London, UK – Royal Albert Hall

*[wnyc.org] Craig Wedren started out in the '90s as frontman for the Washington, DC based band Shudder To Think. But these days he balances a busy solo career with a "day job" as a soundtrack composer. He joins us in studio with a new album called "Wand" - and he'll play live. Listen below.



*A message from Blacklisters... "Holy Moly you’s lot we are releasing “I Can Confirm,” the first single on Brew Records to come from our upcoming album on the 12th of December. Produced once again by Ross Halden and mastered by Carl Saff (Young Widows, Oxes, Melt Banana) and follows on from our free download earlier this year "Swords" which is still available on our bandcamp.

As part of this release we have decided to do a something a bit different for the pre-order. As of today 21/11/11 when ordering you will be able to purchase a Blacklisters "I Can Confirm" T Shirt or Screen Print designed exclusively for the band by the worlds greatest illustrator Drew Millward. This will come with a download code. They are both extremely limited and will not be reprinted. Order now HERE. We are currently streaming the tune so have a listen then get yourself involved.



Tour Dates:

26/11/10 Cockpit - Leeds w/ Future of the Left
19/12/11 Ruby Lounge - Manchester w/ Kong
18/1/12 Oporto - Leeds w/ Shield Your Eyes

*[consequenceofsound.net] Whether noise rock pioneers Sonic Youth are finito or not, it doesn’t change the fact that, at one point, they were nobodies. Proof of that comes with the band’s recently unearthed first live recording, as part of a cassette from the June 1981 Noise Fest at NYC’s White Columns art space. The untitled cut is a great glimpse into what the band would become, full of noisy, jagged rock sounds, plenty of experimental bleeps and bloops, disorientating waves of effects, and vocals that sound more like cries for help than singing. Check it out below (via YouTube user RockNimbie via @MatadorPress).

While it remains to be seen what the future holds for Sonic Youth, two of the band’s members have already revealed solo plans for 2012. As previously reported, Moore has mapped out a new leg of solo tour dates for January and February. In addition, Guitarist Lee Ranaldo recently announced the release of his first song-based solo album, Between the Times & the Tides, due for release on March 20th via Matador Records.



*[punknews.org] The Bronx's side-project, Mariachi El Bronx have posted a free download of the song "Everything Dies" from their recent album Mariachi El Bronx II. Additionally, the band has made the previously unreleased b-side "All Eyes" available. According to an update sent to the band's mailing list, the tracks are being made available as a result of a mix-up with the European and Australian pressings of the record.

You can download both songs on the band's Facebook page HERE.

*[consequenceofsound.net] Last night at Los Angeles’ Walt Disney Concert Hall, former Hüsker Dü and Sugar frontman Bob Mould was honored with a star-studded tribute concert. Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl, Ryan Adams, Spoon’s Britt Daniel, The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn, and No Age were among the acts who took part, performing songs from Mould’s entire discography, including Hüsker Dü, Sugar, and Mould’s own solo material.



*[press release] Multi-platinum rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers have announced that, as of today, it will release professional-quality recordings of each show on its current and upcoming tours in support of the band's latest album I'm With You. Fans will be able to download the recordings in MP3, CD-quality FLAC, or iTunes-friendly Apple Lossless formats within two to three days of each show HERE, and all upcoming tour dates can also be found HERE.

Red Hot Chili Peppers are currently touring Europe through mid-December in support of I'm With You, which debuted at No. 2 on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart and No. 1 on Billboard's Rock and Alternative album charts, as well as on the Top Internet Albums and iTunes Top Alternative Albums chart.

Ume Announce Tour Dates with Cursive

[press release] Austin-based trio Ume have had an explosive year and there's no slowing down in sight as the female-fronted band will kick start 2012 in high gear opening for critically acclaimed rockers Cursive on their North American tour. The jaunt will begin in Denver on February 12 and land in Los Angeles on February 24, making for the band's first area play since the August release of their much-talked-about LP, Phantoms (Modern Outsider Records). Along the way they will hit Seattle, Salt Lake City, Portland, Kansas City in addition to several other major cities. Tour dates are below with more shows to be announced soon. Prior to wrapping up the year, Ume will play two hometown shows: the Indoor aftershow for 101X's Independent Workforce X-Mas with Cake concert December 4 at Stubb's and a NYE show December 31 alongside The Black Angels and Wooden Shjips at Emo's East.

Recognizing the band's growing popularity at home and abroad the Austin Chronicle featured the trio, led by singer/guitarist Lauren Larson, Lauren's husband Eric on bass and drummer Rachel Fuhrer, on the cover of this week's issue. "Live, Larson's an ambivalent siren, letting the crowd feed on its own objectifying presumptions - of sexuality, admiration, innocence, vulgarity, or vulnerability - only to shatter all of that upon the rocks of her own complete immersion in the music, the melodic lull and devastating pummel of Ume," they exclaimed. Read the article HERE.

Released in August, Phantoms marks a mature development for the band as they have refined their sound and tempered their revved up rock with undeniable melodies and potent pop hooks without sacrificing any of the sonic catharsis displayed at their live shows. "This band is ready to break out in a whole new way... A little like fuzzy shoegaze, raw garage rock and irresistible pop all rolled into one fiery package," declared Nylon while Relix exclaimed: "The group, led by powerhouse singer/guitarist Lauren Larson, has merged the sounds of heavy rock and ethereal indie pop with deft precision, finding new ground somewhere in between Warpaint, Metric and Mogwai."

Since the release of Phantoms, the band has kept incredibly busy with shows, festival appearances, shows and multiple tours, most recently supporting Platinum-selling rockers Middle Class Rut on their nationwide tour. Ume's scorching video for "Captive," an alluring clip featuring the raucous threesome band performing in a burning house, exclusively premiered on mtVU where it was shown 24 times in 24 hours and continues to be in rotation (watch below). In December it will be added to MTV on Demand. Meanwhile, album track "Run Wild" was featured in the hit CW series "The Vampire Diaries" and the band has received airplay across the country including on Sirius and influential stations KEXP and KROQ's Jonesy's Jukebox. And Ume is just getting started.

UME ON TOUR WITH CURSIVE:

December 4 - Austin, TX @ Stubb's w/ Speak, Soldier Thread *
December 31 - Austin, TX @ Emo's East w/ The Black Angels, Wooden Shjips *
February 12 - Denver, CO @ Larimer Lounge
February 14 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
February 15 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux
February 17 - Seattle, WA @ Neumos
February 18 - Vancouver, BC @ The Media Club
February 19 - Portland, OR @ Bunk Bar
February 24 - Los Angeles, CA @ Troubadour
February 25 - Pomona @ The Glasshouse
February 26 - San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
February 27 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
February 28 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
March 2 - Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
March 3 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown

*Without Cursive

Psychic Teens Release Debut Album "TEEN"

[press release] Psychic Teens are a trio from Philadelphia whose sound is best described as a mix of goth and shoegaze, but with a punk aesthetic that sets them apart from modern bands of their ilk. Larry, Joe, and Dave came together through a united love of Nine Inch Nails, My Bloody Valentine, New Order, and horror movies. Psychic Teens have opened for acts as diverse as Zola Jesus, Yob, and Cave, gaining them an increasingly large local fanbase. This exposure has been augmented by a session on WXPN’s The Key Sessions, which is hosted on their website and has broadcast live on XPN2.

With the concurrent release of the band's first LP, 'TEEN' on Golden Voyage Records, alongside 'TAPE' - a pairing of three of 'TEEN's' tracks with performance and found footage - released on VHS by Video/Horror/Show, the band has widened their net for performing outside of the greater Philadelphia area, paving the way for a few mini east coast tours in 2012. Tracks such as “Red” showcase the bands louder, angrier side, while “Rose” has a foreboding, intense drive that would fit in perfectly for a dark autumn evening.



The band will be performing a must see show next Monday, November 28th in Philadelphia, PA at Kung Fu Necktie with PILE, Ugh God, and Fat History Month!

Quick Notes: Trent Reznor/How To Destroy Angels, Muse, Elliott Smith + More

*[theprp.com] Trent Reznor graced his Twitter yesterday (November 20th) with a double burst of good news for his faithful fans. Reznor confirmed that he has finished up work on his and Atticus Ross‘ collaborative soundtrack/score to the upcoming David Fincher film adaptation of the books/film series, “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo“.

Along with that comes word that mixing for new How To Destroy Angels material is now underway full-time. More details regarding the release of the aforementioned soundtrack are set to be revealed on December 02nd. Download How To Destroy Angels' debut EP for FREE below.

*[theprp.com] ††† (aka Crosses) have announced what may wind up being their first-ever live show. The group are set to perform at Quilmes Rock 2012 at Estadio River Plate in Buenos Aires, Argentina on April 03rd. Other artists scheduled to perform at the festival include Foo Fighters, MGMT, Band Of Horses and more.

The suspicion of more shows being added has paid off. The band have since been announced as part of the “Lollapalooza Chile” festival at Parque O’Higgins in Santiago, Chile. The festival will take place from March 31st through to April 01st.

*[SPIN.com] Expect hugeness. Arena-scale English rockers Muse have hit the studio to start work on their sixth album, and the follow-up to 2009's The Resistance could arrive by next fall. The band's manager, Anthony Addis, told Billboard.biz the group hopes to record the entire LP in London and release it by October 12.

Addis said he hasn't heard any of the new songs yet, but Oh No They Didn't points to a couple of fun tweets from Muse lead singer Matt Bellamy. In the first, he says: "About to start some recording tomorrow. What musical direction shall we go in?" In the second, he adds, "OK, will start on christian gangsta rap jazz odyssey, some ambient rebellious dubstep and face melting metal flamenco cowboy psychedelia." When it comes to the band behind the Queen-like "United States of Eurasia (+ Collateral Damage)," the crazy thing is he might not be joking.

Muse bassist Chris Wolstenholme has previously said the plan is to record an album and then play the new songs live, so after the album gets a release date, tour dates might not to be too far behind. Continues the band's manager, Addis, "They've written a lot of material already but you don't know how it's going to gel between them all. They write constantly. They write on the road, so before or after a gig they'll write nearly every night. It's a serious process, but you don't know how it's going to turn out [until] you start practicing it together, because everybody's done it individually." Ah, so that explains the complexity of the songs, then.

*[stereogum.com] In 1997, Elliott Smith arrived at the University of Maryland’s student-run WMUC-FM station to tape a session; at the time, Smith was riding a wave of underground and critical respect for his 1997 LP Either/Or. The session was broadcast live on the station and taped via MiniDisc for posterity. Before the session began, though, Smith warmed up with “Misery Let Me Down,” a stark, two-minute ode, which was not broadcast. The recording then mysteriously disappeared before surfacing recently. Head to The Washington Post to hear the track.

*Dad Rocks! have debuted the video for "Downaging," a song from his full length debut Mount Modern. Here's what Dad Rocks! had to say about it, "Nikolaj Skjold and Kristian Vestergaard have just published their video for "Downaging"! It's both beautiful and bloody. Sci-fi and gore. You've been warned. Now have a look!"



*[kroq.radio.com] Locals Only and Jonesy’s Jukebox band The Fling are unraveling their inner Kerouac, touring across the country and documenting all of the crazy shenanigans that go down on the road. Like a bundle of workhorses carrying instruments (and copious amounts of beer), the Long Beach natives are playing 43 shows in a matter of 66 days. If that doesn’t merit a band the title of “road warriors,” than your standards are too high.

In a running tour blog, lead singer Dustin Lovelis has graciously offered to describe each stop of the trip. This entry details their first eight stops with supporting act The Vandervelde. From partying with the locals in Eureka, California and dodging fistfights, to braving the snowstorms in Denver, The Fling have quickly discovered the memories will match the miles of their journey. Check it out HERE.

*Passenger Peru have posted the first half of their upcoming album for streaming on their official Bandcamp page HERE. The infectiously catchy songs are brimming with charm and will be sure to resonate with fans of experimental pop, indie rock, and lo-fi psychedelic rock. The band is the latest project from former Pet Ghost Project members Justin Stivers and Justin Gonzales. Stream the record below...



*Crinkle Face is a brand new Boston band formed by Nassy mastermind Jordan Hislop. Their music has an aggressive grunge sound, and we can't wait for them to hit the studio later this winter. In the meantime, check out some videos from their first two performances...

Boots Electric Offers FREE "I Love You All The Thyme" MP3

[press release] After bestowing the videos for “Boots Electric Theme” and “Complexity” upon us, Eagles of Death Metal’s Jesse Hughes is sharing a third track from his solo project, Boots Electric. Click HERE to stream/download “I Love You All The Thyme” [right click, save as]. The track finds Hughes showing a different side from his notorious winking, seductive persona that gets all the girls. Instead, “I Love You All The Thyme” is a moment of genuine pining for someone he loves that seems to have their eye on someone else. The song is on Honkey Kong (Dangerbird Records), Hughes’ debut album under the Boots Electric moniker. The album was produced by Tony Hoffer (Beck, Depeche Mode, The Kooks) and co-written with legendary keyboardist Money Mark, best known for his many collaborations with the Beastie Boys.

After creating three albums of dirty and danceable garage rock anthems as the frontman of Eagles of Death Metal, Hughes expands his sonic palette as Boots Electric while continuing to deliver the hooks that he’s known for. The electronic drums that kick off opening track “Complexity” immediately signal the new direction. The track is a mix of glam-pop, keyboard-heavy dance grooves, and Hughes’ signature brand of rock ‘n roll grit that drips with swagger. Elsewhere, he tries on space-funk synths on the track “Boots Electric” and “Trippy Blob” has some of his most absurdist lyrics yet.

Hughes continues to show his earnest side on tracks like “No Ffun” is an honest-to-goodness ballad and “Swallowed by the Night” is a soulful slice of honky tonk gold. Honkey Kong reveals what many already knew – beneath the tongue-in-cheek lyrics and his charismatic strut, Hughes has always been a gifted pop songwriter at heart. Boots Electric is coming out of the closet.

CONTEST: Win a Smashing Pumpkins "Siamese Dream" Box Set From EIS + EMI

We are thrilled to announce that one lucky winner will be receiving the highly anticipated box set reissue of the Smashing Pumpkins classic Siamese Dream! Considered one of the most influential albums of the 90s, this is the first time the record has been remastered and reissued. The box set contains:

*Original Album Remastered With Reimagined Cover Art
*17 Previously Unreleased or Alternative Versions of Siamese Dream Era Songs
*Previously Unreleased, Full Length DVD From The Metro 1993
*13 Postcards Featuring Original Album Collages
*24 Page Booklet Featuring Complete Lyrics, Unpublished Personal Photos, Liner Notes by David Wild, and Track-by-Track Annotations by Billy Corgan



To enter, simply send an email to dan@explodinginsound.com with your name, address, and let us know what your favorite track from Siamese Dream is! One winner will be chosen at random, and the contest is only open to US residents. All entries must be received by December 2nd, 2011. One email per person. Good luck!

In addition to the Siamese Dream box set, Smashing Pumpkins and EMI Records will be releasing a deluxe edition and box set reissue of both Siamese Dream and their exceptional debut album Gish. Both releases will be available on Tuesday, November 29th. Links and full details on both releases are below...

Find Smashing Pumpkins on the internet at...

*Official Site
*Facebook
*Twitter
*iTunes
*YouTube

On November 29 in North America and December 5 internationally, EMI Music will launch an extensive campaign honoring the legacy of THE SMASHING PUMPKINS by reissuing the iconic alternative band’s first two albums-- GISH (1991) and SIAMESE DREAM (1993), certified platinum and 4X platinum respectively - in CD, deluxe 2CD/DVD, vinyl LP, and digital configurations. Both albums, each with bonus content and special features that were curated from the band’s archives by founding member Billy Corgan, have been painstakingly remastered for the first time from the original master tapes by Bob Ludwig.

With the full support and guidance from THE SMASHING PUMPKINS - who’ve created one of the most acclaimed bodies of work in musical history, selling over 30 million albums - EMI’s global catalog reissue campaign will last through 2013; it will encompass all the band’s albums and B-sides from 1991-2000, with other release dates to be announced. The pivotal group’s many hits defined the alternative music era and continue to resonate on modern rock radio, influencing a whole new generation. Gish highlights include “I Am One,” “Siva” and “Rhinoceros,” while Siamese Dream features “Cherub Rock,” “Today” and “Disarm.” Both groundbreaking albums were produced by Butch Vig and Billy Corgan.

For the GISH and SIAMESE DREAM liner notes, Billy Corgan was interviewed by journalist/author David Wild. Corgan reflects on why these albums were hard-won triumphs for the band and discusses the origins of the songs.

In the SIAMESE DREAM liner notes, Corgan says: “We start the album out with ‘Cherub Rock’ which is basically my big F.U. to the indie world. If you read the lyrics, that was basically me railing against the hipper than thou New York indie mentality.”

Here are the special features about both reissues:

· Deluxe versions of Gish and Siamese Dream will each include a bonus disc of rare and previously unreleased audio content.
· Deluxe versions of Gish and Siamese Dream also contain a never-before-released live show from the Metro in Chicago on DVD. The 10-song live show in the Gish package is from 8/25/90; the 17-song live show in the Siamese Dream package is from 8/14/93. Both DVDs feature introductions by Joe Shanahan, owner of the Metro in Chicago.
· The Gish bonus disc will include brand new Butch Vig mixes of the original Sub Pop single tracks “Tristessa” and “La Dolly Vita.”
· Vinyl has been mastered specifically for the format.
· Housed in special lift-top box packaging, the deluxe versions feature liner notes and track by track commentary from Billy Corgan, never-before-seen collages and photos, postcards and more.

GISH (DELUXE EDITION)

Disc 1:

1. I am one
2. Siva
3. Rhinoceros
4. Bury me
5. Crush
6. Suffer
7. Snail
8. Tristessa
9. Window paine
10. Daydream

Disc 2:

1. Starla (2011 mix)
2. Siva (Peel session)*
3. Honeyspider (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix)
4. Hippy Trippy (Crush Music Box demo)
5. Snail (live radio performance)
6. Plume (2011 mix)
7. Bury Me (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix)
8. Daydream (Old House demo)
9. Tristessa (Sub Pop single / 2011 mix)
10. Girl Named Sandoz (Peel session)*
11. Jesus Is The Sun (Apartment demo)
12. Blue (Gish sessions demo)
13. Smiley (Gish sessions demo)
14. I Am One (Reel Time demos / 2011 mix)
15. Seam (Suffer / Apartment demo)
16. La Dolly Vita (2011 mix)
17. Pulseczar (Gish sessions demo)*
18. Drown (alternate guitar solo)

All songs previously unreleased except where indicated.*

DVD: Live at The Metro, Chicago, IL 8/25/90

Introduction
1. I am one
2. Snail
3. Rhinoceros
4. Bury Me
5. Tristessa
6. Window Paine
7. Razor
8. Sookie Sookie
9. Godzilla
10. Crush - Acoustic

SIAMESE DREAM (DELUXE EDITION)

Disc 1:

1. Cherub rock
2. Quiet
3. Today
4. Hummer
5. Rocket
6. Disarm
7. Soma
8. Geek U.S.A
9. Mayonaise
10. Spaceboy
11. Silverfuck
12. Sweet sweet
13. Luna

Disc 2:

1. Pissant (siamese sessions rough mix)
2. Siamese dream (broadway rehearsals demo)
3. STP (rehearsal demo)
4. Frail and bedazzled (soundworks demo)
5. Luna (apartment demo)
6. Quiet (bbc session/bc mix)
7. Moleasskiss (soundworks demo)
8. Hello kitty kat (soundworks demo)
9. Today (broadway rehearsal demo)
10. Never let me down again (bbc session)*
11. Apathy's last kiss (siamese sessions rough mix)
12. Ache (silverfuck rehearsal demo)
13. U.S.A. (soundworks demo)
14. U.S.S.R. (soundworks demo)
15. Spaceboy (acoustic mix)
16. Rocket (rehearsal demo)
17. Disarm (acoustic mix)
18. Soma (instrumental mix)

All songs previously unreleased except where indicated.*

DVD: Live At The Metro, Chicago, 8/14/93

Introduction
1. Rocket
2. Quiet
3. Today
4. Rhinoceros
5. Geek U.S.A.
6. Soma
7. I am one
8. Disarm
9. Spaceboy
10. Starla