DOWNLOAD: Esben & the Witch - Marching Song (Snorkel Remix) (MP3)

Esben & The Witch at Bowery (more by Leia Jospe)

Gothy UK post-punks Esben & The Witch last visited the U.S. while on tour with Foals last year (pics from Bowery Ballroom). They'll return this March for some headlining shows of their own including one in Brooklyn at the Bell House on March 4th and an early show at Mercury Lounge on March 5th. Tickets for Mercury Lounge are currently on AMEX presale and go on general sale at noon on 1/21, the same time that Bell House tickets go on sale.

Esben & The Witch will release their new LP Violet Cries via Matador on 2/8. Preorder that from Matador, and check out all tour dates as well as what Jack Black (yes, that Jack Black) thinks of the LP, and check out two official videos, below. Grab the new Snorkel Remix of "Marching Song" above.

In related news, Foals are back on the road this spring too, and will play Terminal 5 on May 4th with Freelance Whales. Tickets go on sale Friday 1/21 at noon.

All tour dates and some videos (including two starring Jack Black) are below.

Continue reading "Esben & the Witch touring, releasing 'Violet Cries' (find out what Jack Black thinks about that) -- MP3, videos & dates"

DOWNLOAD: Times New Viking: "No Room to Live" (MP3)

TNV @ a BV Day Party (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As at least one person picked up on back in October, Times New Viking are no longer on Matador. As just officially revealed via Pitchfork, they are now labelmates with the Mountain Goats...

"Ohio shit-fi indie rock heroes Times New Viking have signed with Merge Records, who will release their new album, Dancer Equired, on April 25 in the U.S. (Wichita will release it in Europe, Pop Frenzy in Australia, and Big Nothing in Japan.) It's the follow-up to 2009's Matador LP Born Again Revisited.

The first single from the record will be "No Room to Live", which previously appeared on a tour-only 7" during the band's jaunt with Guided by Voices last year. You can take a listen to the song above, and check out its video (directed by Brandon Reichard and Pelham Johnston) below."

Continue reading "Times New Viking switch from Matador to Merge"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Nightlands - Suzerain (A Letter to the Judge) (MP3)

A solid local bill at Glasslands Thursday tonight (1/20), with Secretly Canadian artist Nightlands headlining. Nightlands is a new project from Dave Hartley of The War On Drugs, and this will be the project's first live show ever. The rest of the lineup is great too: dreamy poppers Tony Castles, former Ponytail man Dustin Wong and art punks Regal Degal.

Secretly Canadian released the Nightlands album, entitled, Forget the Mantra, in November. Check out the gorgeous choral arrangements on "Suzerian" at the top of this post, and check out the video premiere of "All the Way", which is the A-side of a soon-to-be-released 7-inch that will be available at shows, below...

Continue reading "Nightlands making their live debut @ Glasslands (grab an MP3 & check out their brand new video)"

DOWNLOAD: The Mountain Goats - Damn These Vampires (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Mountain Goats - Tyler Lambert's Grave (MP3)

John Darnielle's The Mountain Goats will release a new album called 'All Eternals Deck' on March 29 via Merge Records (who also released John's last project "The Extra Lens" in October)...

"As with their last album, The Life of the World To Come, the [Mountain Goats] treated the [All Eternals Deck] recording sessions as commando raids on several studios with a few different producers: four songs at North Carolina's Fidelitorium with John Congleton; one at Q Division in Boston with Brandon Eggleston; four at Brooklyn's Mission Sound with Scott Solter; and four at Mana Recording Studios in Florida, with former Morbid Angel guitarist and current Hate Eternal helmsman Erik Rutan.

Describing the album, Darnielle writes, "If you have ever watched say a 70s occult-scare movie where one of the scenes involves a few people visiting a storefront fortune teller, getting their cards read, and then trying to feel super-hopeful about their predicted outcome when what they're visibly actually feeling is dread, then you have a pretty decent idea of what the album is all about." He elaborates, "Other possible points of reference include 'Burnt Offerings,' 'Go Ask Alice,' and that one scene in The Warriors where they're on the train and the sun's coming up and they're safe but you know the scars are permanent now."" - Merge Records

There are two MP3s above. "Tyler Lambert's Grave" is a new song John released for free on the Internet, but it's not on the new album. "Damn These Vampires" is though. The full tracklist, the new album's cover art, and all dates, below...

Continue reading "The Mountain Goats releasing 'All Eternals Deck' on Merge, touring (MP3s & dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Heideker & Wood - Wedding Song (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Heideker & Wood - Chistmas Song (MP3)

hot dudes

(Tim) Heidecker and (Davin) Wood (of the Tim & Eric show) are now in the business of making smooth jams. Their debut full-length album, Starting From Nowhere, will be released March 15th on Little Record Company. One song from that album, and one they released for free last month for the holidays, are the MP3s above.

DOWNLOAD: Little Scream "The Heron and the Fox" (MP3)

Sharon Van Etten at Bowery Ballroom (more by Jessica Amaya)

Sharon Van Etten just headlined Bowery Ballroom recently and will return to play another hometown show at the about-equally-sized Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn on 4/16 with Little Scream. Tickets go on AMEX presale Wednesday, 1/19, at noon, and then on regular sale 48 hours later.

The new date comes toward the end of Sharon's recently announced tour with Montreal's Little Scream who has some more good news of her own. The Golden Record, which we previously discussed, will be released by Secretly Canadian on April 15th! Co-produced with Richard Reed Parry (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre), the LP features appearances from multiple guest stars including Parry, Becky Foon (A Silver Mt. Zion), Patty McGee (Stars), Sarah Neufeld (Arcade Fire, Bell Orchestre), and Aaron Dessner (The National), who lends his talents to the lead single "The Heron and the Fox" available for download above.

Little Scream's signing news comes not long after fellow Montreal band The Luyas announced that they would be releasing their album via the same label family (The Luyas signed to Dead Oceans).

All Little Scream dates below...

Continue reading "Sharon Van Etten adds Brooklyn show w/ Little Scream (who signed to Secretly Canadian) -- MP3 & updated dates"

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Bee Control - "Now You Know" (MP3)

Trevor De Brauw of Pelican (more by Paul Birman)

"Bee Control is a hardcore trio composed of Dave Laney (Milemarker, Auxes, Challenger), Trevor de Brauw (Pelican, Tusk, Chord) and Theo Katsaounis (Joan of Arc, Locks, Hey Tonal, et al ad infinitum). The four quick blasts that comprise the tracklisting of the group's debut 7" are a distillation of the ferocity and simplicity of early 80's hardcore with the willful avantisms and lyrical nihilism that informed the mid-90's punk scene in which these musicians originally got their start." -Past/Futures Records

Continue reading "hardcore trio Bee Control releasing debut 7" (MP3 & video) "

by BBG

DOWNLOAD: Nachtmystium - "A Seed For Suffering" (live) (MP3)

Nachtmystium at The Studio at Webster Hall (more by Markus Shaffer)

While Nachtmystium may experiment with different directions from LP to LP, there is always one constant, an unstoppable live show. Now that punk ethos and those icy blasts are the focus of a new release, Nachtmystium Live at Roadburn due on Feb 17th via Roadburn Records (on 2LP) and currently available for pre-order in Europe and at select US distros.

Nachtmystium has been known to feature different configurations on the live stage. Their Roadburn appearance not only featured Ron van Herpen from The Devils Blood/Astrosoniq and Teun van der Velden from Astrosoniq on guitar/keys respectively, but it was the first time they played with them following the abrupt departure of Jeff Wilson mid-tour:

"For your information, ...these two guys had THREE HOURS of practice with us EVER, on the day of the show none the less. We had not met them in person previous to the day of the show. They'd been asked to help us out (due to some unfortunate circumstances with a member of Nachtmystium having to leave for home mid-tour) about nine days before our performance at Roadburn. Both of them learned the entire set from the album recordings of the songs we played in these nine days, and then had a three hour window in the afternoon on show-day to rehearse with us as a full band.

Nachtmystium will hit the road with Cradle of Filth, playing Best Buy Theater in NYC on March 3rd and Starland Ballroom in NJ on March 5th as part of the "Creatures From The Black Abyss Tour". Tickets are still available. All dates are reposted below.

The song stream and the tracklisting/art for the new release are down there too...

Continue reading "Nachtmystium releasing 'Live at Roadburn' -- MP3 & tour dates"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Bass Drum of Death - Heart Attack Kid (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Bass Drum of Death - Get Found (MP3)

Bass Drums of Death

Mississippi duo Bass Drum of Death are in town for two shows this week: tomorrow (1/18) night at Glasslands with Smith Westerns (now sold out) and Wednesday (1/19) at Pianos where they'll open for the Captain Shafts (Smith Westerns were originally on this bill too, but dropped off a while ago).

On record, Bass Drum of Death is essentially John Barrett, but is augmented by basher Colin Sneed. After a slew of 7"s and EPs over the last couple years, BDoD are finally ready to drop their full length debut, GB City, on February 22. I think it's probably the most tuneful, enjoyable slab of garage pop since Ty Segall's Melted. You can check out two tracks from the LP at the top of this post.

If you can't make these shows, look for Bass Drum of Death on tour in the spring, including SXSW in March. Look for The Smith Westerns on tour through March.

The Capstan Shafts, on tour now, also plays The Rock Shop on Thursday with Medals (ex-Jaguar Club) and Cabinet while he's in town. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Bass Drum of Death releasing 'GB City', playing NYC w/ Capstan Shafts (MP3s & tour dates)"

DOWNLOAD: U.S. Royalty - Equestrian (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: U.S. Royalty - Monte Carlo (MP3)

U.S. Royalty

The Wombats were supposed to play a show at Glasslands in Brooklyn on Monday night with U.S. Royalty, but the Wombats have cancelled all January dates including Tuesday night at Mercury Lounge as well.

DC band U.S. Royalty are no longer playing Glasslands either (the whole show is cancelled), but you can catch them for free Tuesday evening at the Apple Store in SoHo ("Join us for a special live performance from U.S. Royalty and hear songs from their debut album, "Mirrors.""). Two U.S. Royalty songs can be sampled above.