WTDTW (WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND): CASTANETS, RAFTER

July 17th, 2009 , by

Via our Twitter account: #WTDTW Fri: Castanest in Knoxville @ Pilot Light, Rafter in Salem @ The Space. Sun: Castanets in #Nashville @ The Basement.

HELADO NEGRO PROLIFERATES: VIDEO, REMIX, MINI-ALBUM, MIXTAPE, PREORDER

July 14th, 2009 , by


On August 8th, we will release Awe Owe, the debut album from Helado Negro (aka Roberto C. Lange). Until then, Roberto is keeping us busy trying to catch up.

First there’s the video, above. Directors Chris Keohane and David Ellis shot it with an SLR still camera in Roberto’s Brooklyn apartment under smoldering lights. They composited these with excerpts from Ellis’s Droptet series, and set it all to the cautionary Helado Negro song "Dahum." We think the results are well worth the sweat and work. View the HD version here.

In other "Dahum"-related news, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and Tigerbeat6/Sonig recording artist Nathan Michel has created his own take on the song with this fantastic remix. Check out the Nathan Michel remix of "Dahum" here.

There’s also the mini-album #TuiteroRoto, which literally means "broken tweeter." It also is a way for Roberto to experiment with the limitations of brevity. He is posting an MP3 track of less than 30 seconds via the modern epitome of shortform, Twitter, several times a week until complete.  Follow its construction here on Twitter.

And finally, in collaboration with Brooklyn musician and occasional Yeasayer drummer Jaytram, Roberto has put together "Falling Down," a mixtape designed to turn you onto a feeling as you listen and not just the mixtape’s music. Roberto calls this a "Monday-Friday" mix and requests that you break it up throughout the workweek. Download it by clicking here.

And yes! We have opened up preorders for Awe Owe. Click here for the CD ($10) and here for the LP ($12).

WTDTW (WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND)

July 10th, 2009 , by

Castanets are playing at the Cake Shop in NYC on Friday night, Chris Schlarb is at Zoey’s Cafe in Ventura, and Cryptacize is in Chicago at the Hideout. On Saturday night, Castanets are playing in Ridgewood at Silent Barn, Chris Schlarb in Bakersfield at Metro Galleries, and Cryptacize at the Turf Club in St. Paul.

You can get these updates via our Twitter account here.

This update brought to you by the letter "C."

DM STITH WITH NEW RELEASE AND SHOWS IN LONDON

July 1st, 2009 , by

Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes personally asked DM Stith to support her at the upcoming sold out show in London at the prestigious Somerset House on July 16th. So, if you don’t already have tickets, we’re sorry, good luck getting in.

That said, Stith is performing his own headlining date in London at the Hoxton Square Bar & Kitchen on Monday, July 20th, which is (as of this posting) not yet sold out. Tickets are £10.00, and you can buy them in advance here. We recommend you go. The now decade-old Irish musicers CLUAS said this of Stith in Paris: " . . . that voice, piercing and melancholic like a train whistle across a prairie, still conjures up romance and escape and a sort of bruised yearning." Yowsers! We imagine Stith in London, albeit across the pond, may do something similar of the sort.

Speaking of Paris, director Armel Hostiou directed Stith’s latest music video, "BMB." This is in conjunction with the release of Stith’s now second EP, appropriately titled BMB, which we release next Tuesday. You can read about BMB the EP it here, and watch "BMB" the video above, or here.

TUESDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: CASTANETS & CRYPTACIZE

June 30th, 2009 , by

Photo by PinkMoose

Not so long ago we announced a new album from Castanets (you can stream a track from the album on Pitchfork right here), but you don’t have to wait that long for new Castanets – when on tour, each show is notoriously different than the last. Tonight Castanets begin a very stacked tour with a bang. They’ll be playing at Central Park’s Summerstage alongside Explosions in the Sky and Constantines. The show is free and starts at 5:30pm, so if you’re in NYC – go! Details for that show are here. Otherwise, see dates for the rest of the U.S. tour here.

Speaking of whirlwind tours, Cryptacize is headway into theirs. They’re playing in Atlanta tonight, then Chapel Hill, and back up into the Rustbelt and beyond, with the superbly sublime Casiotone for the Painfully Alone as tourmates. See dates for that tour here.

#WTDTW (WHAT TO DO THIS WEEKEND)

June 26th, 2009 , by

Via our Twitter account (here), some suggestions on spending your evenings this weekend…Fri: Cryptacize in Denton @ Rubber Gloves, Fol Chen in LA @ PDG Performance Warehouse :: Sat: Cryptacize in Austin @ Mohawk :: Sun: Cryptacize in Houston @ Walter’s.  Details are here.

FOL CHEN ARE WHAT PRINCE, JUNIOR VASQUEZ, AND BEASTIE BOYS HAVE IN COMMON [MP3]

June 25th, 2009 , by

Fol Chen is having an incredible 2009 thus far, with rave reviews of their debut, Part One: John Shade, Your Fortune’s Made, as well as their shows in NYC and the UK. But never one to rest of their semi-anonymous laurels, they are staying plenty busy. SPIN recently invited them to cover Prince’s "The Beautiful Ones" for their Purplish Rain compilation, which will also include contributions from Of Montreal, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Chairlift, Lavender Diamond, and many more. Read more about compilation here.

While on tour in the UK, Fol Chen stopped into the BBC studios to record a live session, and now that they’re back home they will guesting on KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic on July 13th. You can tune in and listen live at 11AM EST here. In weirder news, TommyBoy Entertainment LLC commissioned Fol Chen to remix house legend Junior Vasquez – who himself has worked with the likes of Beyonce, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Mariah Carey and Madonna. Or in other words, all artists you wouldn’t expect reading about on the Asthmatic Kitty website until this very moment.

Don’t miss Fol Chen when they come through – which is to say in LA at PDG Performance hall this Friday (details here), or later during their fall tour. Oh, and here is some terrific footage of them covering the Beastie Boys’ "Sabotage" at the Echo. And thanks to Sasha Frere-Jones for finally introducing the New Yorker readership to the Laker Girls (here).

 "Insecurities (Fol Chen Remix)"

ROYAL CITY: OUT NOW, POSTERIZED, STREAMING

June 23rd, 2009 , by

Royal City is gone but not forgotten, and today that is more true than it has been in a while. We are lucky to be the ones releasing their retrospective self-titled rarity and B-side collection outside of Canada. Feel free to catch up and purchase (CD – $12, LP – $14). If you’re not yet convinced yet, super-blog MBV has a wonderful full, free, stream of the album for the interested right here.

Turns out MBV are big fans; in fact, with some help from Lisa Moran and Tyler Clark Burke (founders of the late, great Three Gut Records – Royal City’s old home) Ryan@MBV organized and printed some gorgeous limited edition, giclee prints of the bands’ previous album covers which were designed by Tyler Clark Burke. Yes, of course you want one. There are two ways to obtain. One is to enter a contest at one of three blogs you should already be visiting daily: MBV, Chromewaves, and Said the Grammaphone.

Or, if you’re not the contesting type, you can buy them from us for $15 right here. Did we say they are archival quality on German Etching stock? They are.

CRYPTACIZE RELEASE 7INCH, CONTINUE TO TOUR

June 22nd, 2009 , by

Having barely finished a whirlwind European tour playing with Final Fantasy, Mirah, and Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu), Cryptacize is now hitting their home pavement with an extensive US tour alongside Casiotone for The Painfully Alone. Touring in support of their sophmore release Mythomania, the band has filled out a little with newest member Aaron Olson joining Chris, Nedelle and Michael. Aaron and Nedelle met at music school a few years ago. Guitar is his first instrument but he was kind enough to switch to bass for Cryptacize. Most importantly, Aaron has black hair, hazel eyes, and is a sensitive guy. Be sure to catch them on the road. Check the tour dates here.

Also be sure to head over to Slowboy Records to pick up the newest offering from Cryptacize, their Lost Beauties & Easy To Dream 7″. This limited edition (300 copies) clear vinyl 7" can be purchased by clicking here. We think it is pretty awesome that the previous release on this label was a David Bryne/Brian Eno collaboration.

A NEW ALBUM FROM CASTANETS

June 15th, 2009 , by

Castanets’ contribution to the American music canon has always been a strange, experimental, defiant one. Beer-soaked country rock gone contrarian noise. Corpse-y folk and desert blues. Live shows and past records brought free-jazz and Nashville together or went dub like it was casual. But no matter how out there it’s gone, Castanets’ music has always had this sly, wizened eye for catchiness and a quiet, laidback flirtation with beats. In the five years since Castanets main-man Raymond Raposa dropped his debut, Cathedral, it has always seemed like Raposa was just one step away from writing a whopper of a totally accessible pop record.

And here it is, Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts. Only it’s not. By some dark alchemy, Castanets has managed to craft an album that is as catchy and well-defined as it is full of experimentation. And more so. More so on the catchy. More so on the song-craft. More so on the clean, majestic classy production (courtesy of our own Rafter Roberts). But also more so on the noise, the haunted electronics, and the all-out remodeling of American song forms.

It’s something new and it’s something epic – and it satisfies. There are many things we can ask for from our music but to be satisfied is paramount. Texas Rose, The Thaw, and The Beasts, the brand-new record from Castanets, is out September 22nd. You can read more about the album here.

In between now and then, Castanets are touring, extensively through June. Those tourdates are here.

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