You probably recognize the band Ludo for a variety of reasons. They're set to release a new album in early September, have had their songs featured on popular TV shows, and, oh yeah, they've been tearing up the Midwest since 2003. However, if you don't know the whole Ludo story: the band formed in St. Louis about seven years ago when singer and guitarist Andrew Volpe needed an outlet to perform some of the songs he'd been writing while in high school. He eventually recruited Tim Ferrell, Tim Convy, and Matt Palermo, and they began playing smaller venues around the Midwest. They released their first self-titled record in 2003 on their own Redbird Records and, after extensive touring, released another album, Broken Bride, in 2005. Rare in the modern day, Broken Bride was a concept album that centered around a man's journey back in time to save his wife from her death in a car crash. Interesting as the album was, it wasn't until 2008 that Ludo achieved success with their single "Love Me Dead". The song came from their albumYou're Awful, I Love You, which was the first product from the band's recent signing with Island Records. Since then, Ludo has been famous for a variety of themed performances and releases including A Very Ludo Christmas, HalLUDOween, and Cinco De Mustache. They're even set to release a new album on September 7th titled Prepare the Preparations. However, even more exciting than that, the band will be taking the stage at Metro on September 9th. They'll be joined by The Graduate and Tommy & the High Pilots. Tickets are on sale now.

Today's audiences are searching for something fresh...something new...something different...A.D.D. (ANALOG DIGITAL DISORDER), from humble Lockport, IL welcomes this challenge and gives rock fans hope of what's been missing in today's cookie-cutter world of music. This quintet, led by Margaret Young's words of real-life's hopes and failures, covers a cross-section of influences from the 70's to the present. As heard on their 11 track CD, produced by Tadpole (3 Doors Down, Disturbed), their mix of lyrical passion and superb musicianship, make for a great recipe for success.

In 2002 David Longstreth released The Graceful Fallen Mango under his own name. A year later, The Glad Fact reintroduced his experimental rock project as "Dirty Projectors,” a moniker he's kept longer than any particular lineup. Longstreth and a revolving cast of collaborators have since released four full lengths, a compilation of cassettes, and three EPs: From The Getty Address’s electro-infused Don Henley-themed opera to Rise Above's rewriting of Black Flag's Damaged from memory (grafting of African musical ideas to punk rock fantasies), Longstreth has, in the words of Battles’ Tyondai Braxton, “forged his own path with authority and an inexhaustible urgency.”

Album five, Bitte Orca, is Dirty Projectors’ most complete effort to date. Reprising the lineup of Amber Coffman (vocals, guitar), Angel Deradoorian (vocals, keyboard, guitar, bass), and drummer Brian Mcomber from 2007’s Rise Above, Bitte Orca also adds bassist Nat Baldwin and vocalist Haley Dekle to the fold, resulting in what sounds like Dirty Projectors' first fully collaborative band record. In fact, it features the first solo vocal pieces by Coffman (R&B anthem "Stillness Is The Move") and Deradoorian (elegantly spare, stringed "Two Doves"). Each was written especially for the singer, representing her specific temperament.

It’s Dirty Projectors at their most seductive and elusive. You wouldn’t be faulted for thinking the title’s about whales, but it’s about the sound of the words, a little bit sweet, a little bit barbed, like “Please Please Me.” The cover featuring Coffman and Deradoorian indeed references 2004’s Slaves' Graves & Ballads, but at the same time it reintroduces a literalized Dirty Projection, the band’s emblem, thereby giving the entire oeuvre a connecting thread. Unlike past releases, Bitte Orca can't be broken down into a conceptual statement. Instead of following a narrative or historical map, Longstreth used individual songs as the units of measure, making sure each was strong enough to stand on its own terms. And it works. From curtain-raising opener "Cannibal Resource" to "Temecula Sunrise”’s metal-jazz spin on sunny ‘70s rock, and "Useful Chamber"'s minimal electronics, ornate vocal harmonies, and Beefheart does Graceland instrumentation, Bitte Orca contains the Projectors' best songs to date.

For instance, with its trills and positive “I know we’ll make it” storyline, Coffman's solo turn “Stillness Is The Move,” is ready for popular hip-hop radio, making the same gesture as recent work by Lil' Wayne and Kanye West, albeit from the opposite side of culture.

Bitte Orca is a big album with disparate blockbuster references. Vampire Weekend frontman (and onetime Dirty Projector) Ezra Koeing gets it: “I hear big riffs that make me think of classic rock, so I think, ‘Is this Led Zeppelin deconstructed?’ I hear folk guitar picking and gorgeous strings, so I think, ‘Is this 60’s folk-pop re-imagined?’ But, as is usually the case, my lame attempts at categorization fade away and soon all I can hear is Dirty Projectors ... It’s not Physical Graffiti for 2K9; it’s 2K9’s Physical Graffiti.”

Bitte Orca's idiosyncratically complex, and sincere take on popular music is reminiscent of David Byrne with whom Dirty Projectors collaborated on “Knotty Pine" for the compilation Dark Was The Night.

Really, in many ways, Longstreth could be viewed as this generation's answer to Byrne, a distinctive torchbearer of labyrinthine song arrangements that go down easy. In that vein, it's fitting to give the Talking Head the final effusive word: "OMG this record is incredible!... Holy shit -- a quantum leap forwards and sideways at the same time. My new favorite record. I know this is all too gushy. Whatever, congratulations."
– Brandon Stosuy

Colin Hanks spends most of the young-author-wish-fulfillment comedy Orange County whining about how he’ll never be one of the greats if he doesn’t escape his bourgeois hometown, until he’s told that “every good writer has a conflicted relationship with the place where he grew up—Joyce, Faulkner, Tolstoy.” While his tastes skew more toward Shakespeare and Camus, it’s easy to see Titus Andronicus frontman Patrick Stickles appreciating this bridging of the highbrow and lowbrow. After all, Stickles and his bandmates spent much of their debut album, The Airing Of Grievances, bashing out sloppy “fuck this town” anthems with titles that give equal billing to a Renaissance master, gonzo journalism, and a made-for-TV apocalypse—bridges more absurd than a trio of literary icons being name-dropped by an MTV-produced Jack Black vehicle. On its follow-up, The Monitor, Titus Andronicus turns to even more disparate sources, forming its sprawling screeds around Faulkner’s deepest well of inspiration: The American Civil War. In spite of its era-appropriate spoken-word interludes (including the inspired/winking casting of The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn as Walt Whitman), The Monitor isn’t the Civil War concept record some have made it out to be—like Grievances, it’s largely about Stickles’ love-hate arrangement with his home state of New Jersey, and the ambitions that home keeps restrained. It’s through the blue-and-gray drag act that Stickles explores that tension, fretting audibly that if “the enemy is everywhere,” it might as well be lurking within him, too. His harried bleat frequently cracks under the pressure, but Stickles has drafted loose-limbed instrumental reinforcements, as capable with a regretful waltz (“To Old Friends And New,” featuring the always-crushing murmur of Wye Oak’s Jenn Wasner) as they are with surging punk-busker bluster (“Titus Andronicus Forever,” “The Battle Of Hampton Roads”). Clocking in at just over an hour, The Monitor is a self-indulgent statement, to be sure—but some of the best ambitious works are often the most personal.
- Erik Adams (AV Club)

"Each night when doors open, we're having a listening party of our upcoming album SIDEWALKS. (Releases Nov. 2nd) We're excited that people who come support us at shows will get a chance to hear it before anyone else!"
- Matt & Kim

First off a note of warning: Matt and Kim aren’t a typical band and this isn’t going to read like your average biography. For example, although Matt and Kim know they met while taking classes at Pratt Institute in New York, Kim’s not sure what year she graduated, let alone when they decided to start playing music as a two-piece. What they do know is that when Matt and Kim started out approximately four years ago, they had no idea how to play their respective instruments—a fact that makes the band’s success story almost as unique as their distinctive brand of synth-and-drums dance punk.

After being forced to play their first show by a friend months after picking up their instruments, keyboardist/vocalist Matt Johnson and drummer/vocalist Kim Schifino played their first show as Matthew and Kimberly in October of 2004—and after slightly altering their name they spent the next year playing every chance they could get in their home base of Brooklyn. Along the way they also released an EP called To/From and started touring the United States non-stop, burning CDs in the van on the way to their self-booked shows and seemingly playing every art space and basement in the country.

In 2006 the band released their self-titled debut—which was instantly embraced by critics and fans alike—and stayed on the road, performing at high profile events such as The Siren Music Festival and Lollapalooza. Okay, so now that the timeline is out of the way, let’s talk about the new album. For starters, Grand was recorded at Matt’s parents’ house in Vermont that Kim describes as “being near nothing and surrounded by three cow pastures.” Or as Matt says, “I had a friend from New York come up once and he was like ‘How did you even find out about college?’” In other words, it’s pretty desolate.

However, Matt’s childhood bedroom—which was still covered with skateboarding posters and show flyers—ultimately turned out to be the ideal environment to record Grand. “While our album is different from our things in the past, it’s what I would have always done if we had the time and means to do it, which we did this time around,” Matt explains, adding that the band sporadically spent nine months on their new record as opposed to the nine days in which they recorded their debut. After the tracks were laid to tape the band returned to Brooklyn where Matt spent his summer sweating, stressing out and mixing Grand in the duo’s apartment.” “I would never record our whole album ourselves again,” he adds, “but it came out exactly how I wanted it to.”

The result is an album that takes the band’s musicianship and songwriting to the next level and also serves as a glowing representation of how far Matt and Kim have come since their debut. From the anthemic opener “Daylight” to the harmony-rich, atmospheric ballad “Turn This Boat Around” and demented pop of “I Wanna,” Grand is quite literally the sound of the collective discovering their voice. “All of the songs on the last album we wrote the first year we learned how to play our instruments,” Matt acknowledges, “but this one is much more diverse and instead of thinking about the songs we thought of the album as a whole, too.”

Then there are the band’s legendary live shows, which look more like dance parties than traditional concerts and blur the line between musician and listener. “I really believe that a band should be honest when they play,” Matt explains. “Kim and I are generally just excited to play; I mean I cannot believe that I can make a living off playing music, which is what I get to do now; it’s just so incredible,” he continues. “We’re excited just to be able to play and we show it, as dorky as that can look.”

Lyrically, the band’s writing process is just as idiosyncratic, with Kim writing random lines of text and Matt going through them and putting them together until they start to mean something to the duo. Understandably the band’s debut admittedly tended to be about “figuring your life out,” but this time around the duo have experienced enough to feel comfortable writing about different topics and have expanded their vision into something that’s metaphor-rich and a little harder to nail down with one or two sentences on tracks like “Lessons Learned.”

In fact, that last statement can be applied not only to Grand as a whole, but to Matt and Kim as a unit—and, amazingly, it seems like they’re still just getting started. “Even though we eat rice and beans a lot and live in an eight-foot wide apartment, we’re doing what we want to do,” Matt summarizes. “It’s like when you’re watching a movie, you don’t want to just see people being content—you need a struggle to make it exciting and fun,” he adds. “If you can just enjoy all the little things, that’s ultimately what makes for a satisfying experience.”

It seems like every band that ever broke up has gotten back together for a reunion tour (and the Eagles won’t stop reuiniting) except one: the Kinks. Intrepid Boston Globe reporter and first-time director Geoff Edgers set out on a one-man mission to reunite one of the best bands ever. His quest took him around the world and into interviews with fellow Kinks fans Sting, Zooey Deschanel, Robyn Hitchcock, and others. Can Edgers get Ray and Dave Davies to talk to each other, let alone share a stage again?

The fact is, I really want you to like Menom­ena. In par­tic­u­lar their lat­est, and third LP, Mines. I could go on and on about the songs, the amaz­ing com­po­si­tion, the intri­cate sounds and lay­ers they incor­po­rate, about the fact that this is a band that uses a com­puter pro­gram one of the mem­bers invented him­self and not just the set­ting on a syn­the­sizer of some for­mer piano prodigy who gave up his/her dreams to pur­sue a life in chill­wave. But no, this is an album, a band, you must hear for yourself…Hidden behind the mask of a starkly intri­cate and stun­ning fifty-four plus min­utes, from the first track to the last, there is a relat­able, hon­est por­trayal of a band at this point in their lives and careers. The con­ver­gence of musi­cal skill and per­sonal emo­tions – not sen­ti­ments of vague gen­er­al­i­ties and non­sen­si­cal bom­bast – achieve that most elu­sive of rock adjec­tives: gen­uine­ness.
- Aquarium Drunkard

About a year ago, Caribou mastermind Dan Snaith couldn’t swim. On a good day, he might get a decent doggy paddle going but, really, he could barely stay afloat. All that changed when his wife got him swimming lessons for Christmas. “Then I became completely obsessed with it and now I swim constantly,” he says. “The only times I really left the house in the past year were either to go out to a club late at night or, in the middle of making music during the day, I’d go to swim every day. It was important to get some distance, and ideas would percolate around in my head as I was swimming away. So it seemed like a theme that was appropriate.” With its absorption of club culture sounds weaved within subtle pop frameworks, Swim is Caribou’s masterpiece-the record he’s wanted to bring to fruition for as long as he’s been making music. A Canadian from small-town Ontario now based in England, Snaith has been a leading figure in electronic music over the past decade. A mathematics scholar and an ingenious multi-instrumentalist/composer, he surprised critics and fans with 2007’s Andorra, a brilliant, electro-tinged pop breakthrough with a timeless grace that made most year-end “Best of” lists and won Canada’s prestigious Polaris Music Prize. After the startling infectiousness of Andorra, Swim is a more complex, multi-layered affair-ripe with fascinating rhythms, instrumentation, and vocals (including those of Born Ruffians’ Luke Lalonde, who appears on “Jamelia”)-that becomes more alluring with each listen. And it’s got Caribou floating. “The real substance of the sound of the record for me is this idea of making dance music that consists of liquid elements,” Snaith explains. “Rather than sounding metallic and rigid, everything is washing around you while you’re listening to it – from one ear to another – but also the pitch is oscillating up and down, and each instrument is going in and out of tune with everything else. Sounds are emerging and disappearing, like everything is made out of water. Dance music is very much associated with very crisp, metallic, clean sounds. I like this idea of dance music that just washes around with fluidity.” “I feel like it’s the most ‘me’ album that I’ve made,” Snaith continues. “In the past, oftentimes part of the excitement of making music for me was hearing someone else’s music-some long-forgotten record from the past-and deciphering how to make those sounds and incorporate those ideas into something of my own. This record is much less a product of its influences. I think this is the record that I’m most proud of because it’s the most ‘me’ in the way things sound; I feel like I have my own vocabulary now. So much of contemporary music is soaked in referencing this or that. I wanted people to put the record on and not be able to say, ‘This sounds like so- and- so.’ I want people to say, ‘This sounds like Dan!’ It’s what everybody wants-to have their fingerprint on the music they’re making. I feel like I’ve achieved that to a greater extent than I have in the past, and that’s exciting.”

Tom Tom Club's "Genius of Live" CD will be released September 28th on Nacional records. The album features select tracks from the 'Live @ the Clubhouse' album as well as a latin alternative remix tribute to "Genius of Love". While Tom Tom Club has performed from Connecticut to Spain, London and Japan in the past year, they will embark on their first lenghty U.S. tour in ten years this fall.
“It will be a real pleasure for us to see so much of the USA again this fall,” says Tom Tom Club drummer/founder Chris Frantz. “We are all very excited about this tour, to go out and make new friends and reconnect with old friends. The band consists of seven players, is smoking hot and completely live. We don't use any sequencers or backing tapes at all!."
- talking-heads.ni

Young Wiz Khalifa has a spindly frame made up mostly of "skin and bones," but he may have a back built strong enough to carry the city of Pittsburgh. The self-professed 18-year-old prince of the city has a thick, bassy flow that makes him seem like a heavyweight in a rap game dominated by artists who thrive on eating weaker and younger emcees. Cameron Thomaz, the North Dakota-born, Homewood-raised rapper, has a braggadocio and determination that is easing him into the line with older and more seasoned artists. Although his new CD, "Show and Prove," rarely strays from the ghetto tales of woe mastered in most gangster rap albums, you can sense that the burgeoning Khalifa has the ability to branch beyond the bleak, redundant concepts painted in vivid detail on your average rap disc. As for his first release, besides an earlier Big Mike mixtape that also showcased Khalifa's promise, Khalifa has given the Steel City a reason to fear the Allderdice High School graduate. "With the hunger of Chris Wallace back in '94," the skinny kid from Pittsburgh introduces himself on his 17-track full-length LP , which jumps from slow-flow heavy-sample tracks to more Chicagoan in style and form. It is the young emcee's hunger that you can feel through almost every track on the album. It is that very hunger that saves him from mediocrity. Khalifa, at his young age, has managed to master dominating the beats he flows over, an ability that rap artists struggle to garner. The skill allows him to flip speeds on more bouncy songs like "Bout Mine" and the infectious "Damn Thing" and then spit laid-back rhymes over the smoothed-out "Pittsburgh Sound" and "Sometimes." Some of his better and more domineering rhymes exhibit his growth as a more evolved artist and also a darker, more East Coast flavor. "Listen, I came in the game feet first/Hit the ground running/A hustler 'til I meet dirt," he pens on the stand-out "Stand Up." "Gotta feed consumption/I'm pumping and people need work/Lotta n---s fronting/I came from nothing and seen worst/The long arm Khalifa reach them with each verse." As in most of the regional sound, the identity of the music can almost become lost in the fact that Pittsburgh can define itself as an East Coast city dropped in an environment suited for the Midwest. Khalifa, however, would do himself a disservice if he chose a more fast, tongue-twisting rhyme pattern. In a cameo on the Dutch Hip-Hop producer Nicolay's CD "Here," Khalifa proves he is an impressive rap prospect when given more consistent beat-making. If Pittsburgh hip-hop needs a defining sound, the young Khalifa could very well become its mouthpiece.
- Moustafa Ayad, Post-Gazette staff writer

Many bands consist of one vocalist, one bass player, one drummer, and one (or two if you’re edgy) guitar players. Most stick to this formula and play on. Gayngs, however, has not been known to follow what's "in." In fact, they walk all over this traditional setup. Then they rip it to pieces and set it on fire, just for good measure. Gayngs is an indie rock collaboration featuring members of Bon Iver, Solid Ground, Rhymesayers, Andrew Bird's band, the Rosebuds, and many more, coming to a grand total of 23 members. Not only is their number unique; each artist comes from a different background and adds a different element to the group, from soft rock to straight up rap. But how are they live, you ask? During their first show in Minneapolis in May 2010, all 23 members of the band participated in a sold out, "Last Prom on Earth" themed performance, which featured a balloon drop, cheesy bowties, 80's cover songs, and even an appearance by Prince. Yes, the Prince. In late September and early October, the group will complete a series of ten tour dates, gracing the stage at Metro and ending at the Austin City Limits Festival. This one-of-a-kind performance is a must see, so buy your tickets early and get ready for a great show. Gayngs will perform at Metro on September 30th. Tickets are on sale now for $19 advance, $21 day of show. The show is 18 & over and starts at 9pm.

You never know what to expect at an Eels concert. One year it's vocoders and synthesizers and the next it's gritty garage rock. None of this is designed for the sake of versatility so much as it is answering the deep-rooted creative needs of E.

E has always been fascinated with off kilter arrangements, slightly left-of-centre instrumentation and an aesthetic that's always sounded like it spent time locked in a box of medicated toys. Maybe it's the simple, slightly rumpled grey suit that E wears, as if he's been coaxed out of mourning in the shadows of some lonely, book filled house.

Eels brand new album 'End Times' is his most revealing, autobiographical work to date. With its stark arrangements and glimpses of social disintegration, "End Times is easily one of Eels' finest achievements." - Alternative Press

With so many different personas surrounding E it's about time we were treated to a good old fashioned Eels rock show. Back to basics, hearing all our Eels favourites with distorted guitar, pounding drums and the raucous applause of satisfied fans. Eels will bring the rock to Australia in July.
- wots-on.info

Gorilla Manor, the debut album from L.A.'s Local Natives, features rustic and yearning vocals, three-part harmonies, clattering percussion, wiggly guitar leads, euphoric chanting, and a Talking Heads cover. In short, the Silver Lake quintet have followed indie rock's major players in recent years-- they knew how to dress for success in 2010. Great for them-- now, what's in it for you? Plenty as it turns out.

Local Natives have already gained a foothold in parts of Europe-- their album has received attention in the UK and they graced the cover of Scandinavia's Sonic magazine late last year-- at home in L.A., and online. With good reason too: Advance singles "Airplanes" and "Sun Hands" recalled elements of Dodos or the Fleet Foxes. The best comparison perhaps is that they're sort of a West Coast Grizzly Bear-- right down to naming an album after the location in which it was recorded. Yet whereas Grizzly Bear's Yellow House is a cozy, isolated New England seaside shack, Local Natives' Gorilla Manor is a squalid Orange County party pad.
- pitchfork.com

Syracuse NY's most internationally beloved export Ra Ra Riot will issue its second full length album, The Orchard, August 24 on Barsuk in the U.S. International release dates will be confirmed and announced shortly.

Produced by Ra Ra Riot and Andrew Maury and mixed by Chris Walla (with one assist from Vampire Weekend's Rostam Batmanglij), The Orchard is 10 more stunning offerings of the bittersweet and endearing Ra Ra Riot blend that Entertainment Weekly likened to "Unforgettable Fire-era U2."

The Orchard follows up Ra Ra Riot's debut album, The Rhumb Line, released two years earlier (almost to the day) and immediately hailed as "a blissful chamber-pop breakthrough" in a 4-star Rolling Stone review (who named it the #38 album of 2008), and by Time Out New York as "classically pretty, but without getting all fussy about it." The Rhumb Line debuted at #109 on the U.S. album chart and went on to sell in excess of 60,000 copies as the band's live draw grew exponentially.

Ra Ra Riot is vocalist Wes Miles, bassist Mathieu Santos, guitarist Milo Bonacci, violinist Rebecca Zeller and cellist Alexandra Lawn. The Orchard marks the band's first time the band has been joined in the studio by drummer Gabriel Duquette, who has toured with the band since the release of The Rhumb Line.
- eqmag.com

All Proceeds Go To The Chicago Coalition For The Homeless

Moved to Double Door. Show is now 21+.
Refunds available at point of purchase.
New tickets must be purchased from Double Door.

Show is now 18+. All previously purchased tickets honored for those 18+. Refunds available at point of purchase for those under 18.

Launched in October of 2005, Riot Fest is a 3-day festival that continually draws international audience attention. The festival, now in its fourth year, prides itself on cultivating a diverse lineup consisting of buzzed-about reunions, one-offs, special guest appearances and popular mainstays from punk’s (and it’s many subgenre’s) rich 30-year history.

All previously purchased tickets honored.

Launched in October of 2005, Riot Fest is a 3-day festival that continually draws international audience attention. The festival, now in its fourth year, prides itself on cultivating a diverse lineup consisting of buzzed-about reunions, one-offs, special guest appearances and popular mainstays from punk’s (and it’s many subgenre’s) rich 30-year history.

Launched in October of 2005, Riot Fest is a 3-day festival that continually draws international audience attention. The festival, now in its fourth year, prides itself on cultivating a diverse lineup consisting of buzzed-about reunions, one-offs, special guest appearances and popular mainstays from punk’s (and it’s many subgenre’s) rich 30-year history.

Launched in October of 2005, Riot Fest is a 3-day festival that continually draws international audience attention. The festival, now in its fourth year, prides itself on cultivating a diverse lineup consisting of buzzed-about reunions, one-offs, special guest appearances and popular mainstays from punk’s (and it’s many subgenre’s) rich 30-year history.

More to be announced on Aug. 3!

An elusive new project from composer Alan Palomo, Neon Indian delivers equal parts synthetic nostalgia, dreampop lullabies, and grinding guitar noise to create something eerier than the sum of its parts.

Forged after a hazy winter gathering in Texas, this initial batch of tracks were the result of field recordings, record samples, a collection of bizarre synth sounds. Orbiting around the themes of drug induced heartbreak, weary afternoons, and lost chances, this music provides a lush soundtrack to the deadbeat exploits of teenage ennui. Neon Indian’s bedroom ballads have already forged the upcoming Psychic Chasms, set for release this summer. They’ve been compared to New Order, Future Bible Heroes, and most recently said to sound like a saw-wave cutting a Doobie Brother’s song in half. Expect much racket to be had from this fresh faced crew.

The Temper Trap's story begins with Dougy. Bornin Indonesia andimmersed inan artistic and musical family, with some rich influencesfrom singing in church choirs with his aunty and uncle and listening to his dad, acountry music fan, play guitar. These influences evolved around Dougy,as he moved consistently from different islands in Indonesa, to Hawaii and then eventually to Australia. Dougy's move to Downunder started him out as a portrait drawer at $25 a pop,or singing a tune for your loose change in downtown Melbourne.

Dougy eventually ended up working atthe same retail store asToby. Dougy had thought of starting a band for years and after a few months of boring work hours and finding out Toby was a drummer and a walking musical dictionary, the first band practice began,minus a bass player. In one of the coincedences that the band have come to rely on Jonny worked a couple of stores down and was called in. He had known Dougy for years,back in the busking days when dougy first arrived in melbourne. jonny, the 13 year old dreamer and son of a missionary,wanted to learn some guitar and dougy helped him out.A brotherly friendship was formed with some sense of common ground, both drawing life from music and their spritual upbringings, and unaware of the musical union which would be formed 6 years later.

The three of them came together, practised like crazy and played some shows for a year.One, twoskip a few (guitarists),ninetynineLorenzo.An old school friend of Toby's, Lorenzo had been dancing around bands and playing guitar from the age of 12. They bonded over skateboarding, but it didn't take the 2 teenagers long to start jamming covers and writing primitive songs in the garage. Years down the track and in another perfect twistLorenzo's previous band called it a day just as the other tempers second guitarist departed and the band was formed.

The Temper Trap, lead by frontman Dougy, have been writing and touring Australia, catching the ears of many, including world renowned producer Jim Abiss who made the journey to melbourne to assist the Temper Trap in delivering their debut record. With a series of epic new tracks set for release on their much anticipated debut album, the band has conquered adventurous new territory, building on their rich foundations in a natural progression. Legendary Artic Monkey's and Kasabian Producer Jim Abiss flew over to Melbourne to be at the helm. The Results of this brilliant new evolution in sound will persuasively draw you in. The Temper Trap have undeniably delivered.

At the halfway point of Lisbon, the sixth studio album by esteemed rock band The Walkmen, front man Hamilton Leithauser sings, “Victory, right beside me / Victory, should be mine.” Arguably the album’s sonic climax, the chorus also serves as an appropriate mission statement for a band on the receiving end of so much admiration but so many false starts.

Formed in 2002 by members of celebrated indie rock bands Jonathan Fire*Eater and The Recoys, The Walkmen burst through New York City’s crowded garage rock scene with their debut album Everyone Who Pretended To Like Me Is Gone. Recorded in the band’s analogue Harlem studio, Marcata Recording, the album captured public and critical attention for its freshness, use of atmosphere, and vintage instrumentation. Where the debut focused on restraint and sonic exploration, the band’s highly anticipated follow-up Bows & Arrows tightened their sound and reached for grandeur. It would spawn indie rock anthem “The Rat” and inspire numerous young bands to cut their hair, button up oxford shirts, and ditch their converse. Two albums followed including 2006’s A Hundred Miles Off and the band’s song-by-song cover of Harry Nilsson and John Lennon’s 1974 classic Pussy Cats. The former polarized fans and critics while the latter served as a last-call to Marcata Recordings - relinquished that year in a Columbia University land grab.

Two years followed. Band members relocated to Philadelphia resulting in countless rides between cities on Chinatown buses. During this time guitarist Paul Maroon taught himself the viola and trumpet leading to a sonic breakthrough. The cold and standoffish tone run aground in recent years was abandoned for a warmer, more personal, and real approach. Heralded as a return to form, 2008’s You & Me catapulted the band back into the limelight landing on countless year-end “best of lists” including NPR, Pitchfork, Paste, Stereogum, Time Out NYC, among others. The album received five stars from English daily The Guardian who described the album as “intimate, intense and beautiful,” while Pitchfork called it “the sound they’ve reached for since the beginning.”

How do you follow an album as groundbreaking and heartbreaking as You & Me? The band spent two years driving between warehouses on Philadelphia’s Girard Avenue and Brooklyn’s Gowanus Canal where they would write the majority of Lisbon. It wasn’t until a few inspiring trips to Lisbon, Portugal however that they established the album’s tone. "None of us had ever been there, and we were really blown away by the place,” says Leithauser. “The topography and architecture are stunningly handsome. It was a trip that outshone a lot of others. We've never had much luck in Europe, and the Portuguese were surprisingly accommodating. I think those two trips really helped keep us motivated while making this record. We named the record Lisbon as sort of a 'thank you' and a small tribute." Adds Leithauser, “early on, we had a whole batch of songs based on this New Orleans-style horn playing that (guitarist) Paul (Maroon) was working on. The track ‘Stranded’ is the only one that actually ended up making the album though. I think it was maybe the second song we wrote for Lisbon, so it sort of exemplifies our sound from two years ago.” In fact, the band recorded around twenty-five songs for the album, soldiering through many disparate phases. “At one point, I thought we were making a country record,” says bassist Walter Martin. “There was another period where most of what was happening were these very simple songs with just delay, quiet guitar, and singing,” adds organist Peter Bauer. The end result draws from each phase. The simple sounds remain drawing from early Elvis and Sun Records for inspiration while the heart of the album adds fast bashy drums, subtle vocal harmonies, and galloping guitar lines. “We had all these moments but really struggled to find the sound that set it apart,” says Bauer. Standout tracks “Woe Is Me” and single “Angela Surf City” made it through several permutations before finding their way back to the wild primitive tone of their original 8 track recordings. These are real barnburners. Set beside left field moments like the Sinatra-esque “While I Shovel The Snow” and the album’s epic closer and title track, Lisbon is the band’s most coherent work to date. “Everything on this record was a real surprise for us,” says Bauer. “And that’s all we ever set out to do.”

The album was recorded in two installments - the first at New York’s Gigantic Studios with You & Me engineer Chris Zane and in a couple of sessions in Dallas, TX with John Congelton who produced albums by St. Vincent and Explosions In The Sky.

In stores September 14th through Fat Possum Records, Lisbon brings a raw, fiery rock n’ roll spirit to the songwriting complexities of You & Me. If You & Me was a return to form, Lisbon feels like their moment.

Kieran Hebden first came on the scene in the 1990s as a member of Fridge, a post-rock outfit that to me always looked better on paper than they sounded on record. Whatever you think of his first band, Hebden's subsequent career can be seen as the idea of post-rock done right. His appetite for music, on the evidence presented in his albums, singles, DJ sets, and collaborations, is voracious. But Hebden has a way of transforming and integrating influences rather than channeling them. So if his loose improvised collaborations with drummer Steve Reid captured something of the spirit of the classic late-60s free jazz records on Impulse!, they also managed to carve out a unique and identifiable aesthetic that sounds very much like today. When working with others, like the wooly free-folk unit Sunburned Hand of the Man or the dubstep producer Burial, Hebden knows when to lead and when to get out of the way. But all the while, whatever the context, he's absorbing. And when it comes to his own records as Four Tet, he has a knack for combining sounds from all over and making them his own.

- Mark Richardson, pitchfork.com

Christopher Mercer, aka Rusko was born in Leeds in 1985 to a musical family. From day dot Rusko was surrounded by music whether it be his families piano’s, guitars, banjo’s and saxophones…or in his later years the heavy reggae and dub sound systems of Leeds, music has always been an integral part of Rusko’s life.
After graduating from Leeds university with a degree in musical performance, Rusko discovered the world of dubstep through SUB DUB and a debut appearance from the “Digital Mystikz”, having spent the past 10 years making future dub alongside Leeds very own Iration Steppas, Rusko connected with the sound and moved down to London to further advance his musical opportunities.
Veering away from the dark, serious side of the sound Rusko bought a highly driven energy and fun approach to the dubstep massive, quickly coining his own take on the genre that infected . His sound appealed to many people outside of the dubstep world as his productions became more adventurous in formula, sound and energy. His huge hit “Cockney Thug” has been played by everyone from Pete Tong, Switch, Diplo and Santogold. And has been remixed by Buraka Som sistema, Diplo, Drop the Lime and the Scratch Perverts.
Now part of the Mad Decent Camp with collaborations on the horizon with the likes of Switch, Diplo , Santigold, Trouble Andrew, Hot Chip and more…the future sure is looking bright. Currently setting the radio airwaves alight with his own productions and remixes of artists such as The Prodigy, Basement Jaxx, Little Boots and plenty more, Rusko is only going in one direction. Onwards, upwards and far beyond any other young producer could dream of.

For the moment, Joe Pug has it figured out, career if not life: Just write the songs that have to be written, play them for anybody who will listen, tour as if you had no home. Oh, and give your music away. Which isn’t to say he won’t be selling his debut full-length offering, Messenger ( Released 2/16/2010 on Lightning Rod). But free is how he came to make it, more or less.
It worked like this, for Joe Pug anyhow: The day before his senior year as a playwright student at the University of North Carolina, he sat down for a cup of coffee and had the clearest thought of his life: I am profoundly unhappy here. Then came the second clearest.
Pug packed up his belongings and pointed his car towards Chicago. Working as a carpenter by day, the 23 year-old Pug spent nights playing the guitar he hadn’t picked up since his teenage years. Using ideas originally slated for a play he was writing called “Austin Fish,” Pug began creating the sublime lyrical arrangements that would become the Nation of Heat EP.
The songs were recorded fast and fervently at a Chicago studio where a friend snuck him in to late night slots other musicians had canceled. He was short on money, but his bare-boned sincerity didn’t require much more than a microphone and it dripped off of each note he sang.
The early rumblings of critical praise for the EP were confirmed when his first headlining gig sold out Chicago’s storied Schubas Tavern in 2008. As word spread, Pug struck upon an idea that would later prove to be one of the most significant in his young career. He offered his existing fans unlimited copies of a free 2-song sampler CD to pass along to their friends. He sent the CDs out at his own expense, even covering the postage. Inside each package was a personal note thanking the fan for helping to spread the word. The response was overwhelming, and to date he has sent out over 15,000 CDs to 50 states and 14 different countries. Without access to radio, Pug managed to turn his fans into his very own broadcast system. The offer still stands, and to this day it’s featured prominently on www.joepugmusic.com.
“Look, in the end, I just trust my fans, and the nature of people in general. I need to pay my bills like anyone else does. But I also don’t think it’s right to ask someone to pay $15 when they don’t know what they’re getting. So in a way by sending out these CDs, I’m wagering that they’ll like my music, and that if they do they’ll come to shows, buy CDs, and help me spread the word even further. And so far I’ve been proven right. Without question, the more sampler CDs I send out, the more music I sell.”
- Click here to read more

PEPPER, comprised of guitarist/vocalist Kaleo Wassman, bassist/vocalist Bret Bollinger and drummer Yesod Williams, formed in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii in 1997. Having grown up surfing on the island, it’s not a wonder that they would mix their rock “shock and ah” flare, along with their mellow island rhythm roots to create their own truly diverse sound. They have also been known to hypnotize fans of all walks of life with their incredibly sweet harmonies all the while keeping bodies moving on the dance floor. The trio played mostly house parties and garages before finally shipping out to San Diego, CA in 1999 to push their first studio release Give’n It.

In 2001, they entered the Volcom warehouse studio with Steve Kravac (Blink 182, Less Than Jake, MxPx) to record Kona Town, which included the hit single “Give it Up (Dirty Hot Sex)” – which has become one of KROQ’s most played songs to date. On the heels of that success, PEPPER retreated into The Hive, a completely analog studio and home of 311, with legendary producer Ron “The Saint” St. Germain (Bad Brains, Living Colour, 311, Tool, Sonic Youth, Soundgarden) to record In With the Old. When the dust settled from the flurry of large-scale tours, the band recorded the expansive No Shame (originally released by Warner Bros.), which featured a slew of exciting producers including 311’s Nick Hexum, No Doubt’s bassist Tony Kanal and current partner in crime Paul Leary of the Butthole Surfers.

PEPPER has sold over half a million records independently and founded their own record label, LAW Records – through which three other artists’ music is distributed: IRATION, Passafire, and The Supervillians. Their music has appeared in many movies (including Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Good Luck Chuck), television shows and video game soundtracks as well as having had a number of album tracks appear on Billboard’s “Alternative Songs” chart (including No Shame’s “No Control,” which peaked at 18, and “Give It Up” which peaked at 34). Their song “Your Face,” also from No Shame, is now available for Guitar Hero World Tour.

The band has also amassed a large and loyal following stemming from their non-stop touring which includes numerous rounds on the Vans Warped Tour and outings with reggae legends The Wailers, 311 and Snoop Dogg, to name a few. PEPPER has performed at several festivals including Lollapolooza, Mile High Festival, West Beach Music Festival, as well as many others. In 2008, PEPPER made the rounds through Europe twice alongside Flogging Molly in the spring and Less Than Jake in the fall. They spent their summer of that year celebrating the July release of PINK CRUSTACEANS AND GOOD VIBRATIONS, which peaked at 11 on Billboard’s “Independent Albums” chart, by hitting up US amphitheatres with longtime friends Slightly Stoopid, and headlined the very first “Here Comes the LAW Tour” – which featured other Law Records artists, The Supervillains and Passafire. The madness continued through the spring of 2009 when PEPPER ventured out for the second time co-headlining the Jagermeister Music Tour with punk rock legends, Pennywise. In the fall PEPPER took the party to the streets of Los Angeles playing the second annual Sunset Strip Music Festival with rock legend Ozzie Osbourne.

After spending the early months of 2010 writing and recording new music, a single, “Wake Up,” due out this summer and fall, PEPPER is heading out on long time friends 311’s annual summer Unity Tour, 2010, with 311 and The Offspring! – Twenty-five big dates including several amphitheaters and arenas. Between the Unity Tour and new music on the way, PEPPER fans are sure to get the PEPPER fix they’ve been craving since 2009! Drummer Yesod Williams had this to say regarding their recent and up coming activities, “Wake up is a proud moment in our career, in my eyes we’ve struck a well of essence! We’re at the place we’ve always wanted to be… From our recent recording momentum to Unity Tour, this time with The Offspring, I’ve been listening to those guys since I was a little grom watching surf movies, it’s living a dream!”

From Atlanta, Georgia, Deerhunter are a band who soon should need no introduction.

Their genesis can be traced back to when Bradford Cox first met guitarist Lockett Pundt at high school. Over the years, drummer Moses Archuleta, bassist Josh Fauver and guitarist Colin Mee (now replaced by Whitney Petty) were all recruited and the band realised.

Their first album - a lo-fi, just-for-fun debut – appeared in 2005 on a local Atlanta label, Stickfigure, and although being untitled, it has since also become known as Turn It Up, Faggot; a phrase that doesn't actually appear on the sleeve but is an insult that Cox claimed was often thrown at the band during their early gigs.

With their next album (some argue their first proper), Cryptograms (2006), things started to get serious for the band. They had moved to fêted Chicago indie, Kranky (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Low, Stars Of The Lid), and the world outside was starting to take serious notice of them.

In mid-2008, Deerhunter and Kranky signed a deal with 4AD (The Breeders, Cocteau Twins, Pixies, TV On The Radio), to allow them to finally release music outside the US and the band's next move was to prove epic in more than just musical terms.

Recorded over the course of a week at the Rare Book Studios in Brooklyn, NY, the Can and Wire-inspired Microcastle (2008) was to propel them to further heights. However, the album leaked four months before release (to rapturous praise) and that led to the band returning to the studio to record Weird Era Cont., an album in its own right, that was added as a bonus disc to make Microcastle a 25-track colossus.

In 2009, they announced a new EP, Rainwater Cassette Exchange, and that it’s release would coincide with the band’s extensive European, Japanese and Australian tour in May and June.

In between Deerhunter duties, the band also have other musical projects and they include Bradford’s Atlas Sound and Lockett’s Lotus Plaza solo work. Add to that, the almost endless number of free tracks and demos out there and this band’s talent and prolificacy becomes undisputable.

One of the foundations of the metal revival of the past ten years, Austin TX’s The Sword have released two flawless slabs of vintage heaviness on Kemado Records, toured the world with Metallica, and were one of the first bands to lock into a whole new legion of fans through Guitar Hero. This summer, the band casts its gaze to the stars for Warp Riders, their third full-length and their most ambitious effort to date.

Warp Riders is The Sword’s first concept album, a science fiction maelstrom put to the storming, relentless riffage and pounding rhythms upon which the band has staked its reputation. It’s also their most flat-out, supercharged, adrenaline-pumping work yet, a chrome-plated war machine that lords over the blackened sky. From the street-prowling anthems “Night City” and “Lawless Lands” to the two-part showdown of “The Chronomancer,” to the furious mechanics of closing track “(The Night the Sky Cried) Tears of Fire,” The Sword forces eminent domain ruling over heavy metal for the next decade, and welcome all challengers for an ill-fated shot at the title.

Warp Riders tells the tale of Ereth, an archer banished from his tribe on the planet Acheron. A hardscrabble planet that has undergone a tidal lock, which has caused one side to be scorched by three suns, and the other enshrouded in perpetual darkness, it is the background for a tale of strife and fantasy, the battle between pure good and pure evil. How it’s told – through the dueling lead guitars of J.D. Cronise and Kyle Shutt, and the concussive rhythm section of bassist Bryan Ritchie and drummer Trivett Wingo – underscores the narrative with molten steel and unreal precision.

Guitarist and lead vocalist J.D. Cronise explains the lineage of Warp Riders: “I’m pretty sure the first concept album I ever heard was Operation: Mindcrime by Queensrÿche when I was a kid, which I was way into. Even though I never really understood the whole story, I was nonetheless enthralled by how the album created its own world. I wanted to create a setting for our songs that would be unique and different, but still a place where epic sagas unfold in proper Sword fashion.” Inspiration took hold from “lots of things … the legend of Atlantis, old Heavy Metal magazines, the films of René Laloux, a childhood dream, and The Teachings of Don Juan by Carlos Castaneda to name a few.”

The story of Warp Riders, entitled “The Night The Sky Cried Tears Of Fire” (written by Cronise), follows Ereth as he discovers a mysterious orb and meets the Chronomancer, a being beyond time and space who enlists him in a quest to restore the planet’s balance. Along the way he encounters strange warriors, mysterious witches, ancient androids, and a crew of space pirates with a vessel that will alter the course of history… a vessel known as, The Sword.

- swordofdoom.com

When 'Cars' and The Pleasure Principle album both topped the UK charts in autumn 1979, Gary Numan put together a complete package of song, promo video and aloof solo stage image which would act as a catalyst on a new wave of suburban no-hopers who achieved fame through their own synth pop styles. In some cases like Depeche Mode,Numan's success encouraged them to switch from guitars to keyboards. In others, such as The Human League, OMD and Soft Cell, he opened up the market, both in the UK and the States where 'Cars' was a hit in 1980. Nevertheless, his detractors continued to attack him as 'pretentious' and 'bombastic'. This was a little unfair as his mixture of neon-tubed futuristic chic and android-like posing were born out of a strange combination of shyness and a passionate commitment to showmanship. He was often freakishly wooden on stage, an articulate but unwordly young man shoved in front of sold out auditoriums through his own success.
Over the next two years, Numan scored more hits including Top 10 UK singles 'We Are Glass' and 'I Die: You Die', as well as a third successive Number 1 album Telekon, which featured an increasingly opulent sound built out of synths, piano, strings and guitar. Then he announced his intention to give up live performances and made a melodramatic, emotional exit with three lavish Wembley Arena shows in 1981. These 'farewell' appearances effectively ended his reign as a multi-million selling 'popstar' and he took time to enjoy the rags-to-riches trappings of money, Ferraris, sponsored racing cars and, of course, his own aircraft! In any case, The Human League, Duran Duran and Adam Ant were now topping the charts and Numan resolved to experiment in the studio without the pressure of trying to write hits or material he would have to perform live.

The internet's been abuzz this week of a rumored Senses Fail/Bayside co-headlining tour this fall, and not only can we confirm the pairing, Alternative Press has exclusively secured the routing for the tour. Dubbed the "Out With The In Crowd Tour," the trek kicks off Oct. 19 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania—the same day that Senses Fail's new album, The Fire, drops on Vagrant Records. They won't be alone in having new songs to play; Bayside will most likely be debuting new material from their upcoming Wind-Up Records debut, out in early 2011. Opening all shows will be Title Fight and Balance And Composure.

“We are very excited to share the road with our good friends in Bayside, it's been a long time coming,” says Senses Fail vocalist Buddy Nielsen. “We always talked about touring together, but our plans never matched up until now.

“The tour is during the heart of playoff baseball and you can bet that the Yankees will be there and since both [Bayside frontman] Anthony [Raneri] and I are diehard fans, there will certainly be some celebrating," he continues. "We are also very excited to have Title Fight and Balance And Composure with us, two amazing up-and-coming bands from the Pennsylvania area that I think people will be eager to hear.”

- altpress.com

Fresh off of their high-profile tour with LCD Soundsystem, grunge-pop duo Sleigh Bells are set to take off on their own headlining tour this fall. They'll be gracing the Metro stage on Wednesday, October 27th. Until then, get a preview of what you might see with this video of Sleigh Bells performing the song "A/B Machines" from their new album, Treats. Enjoy!

New video from Black Mountain for their upcoming album Wilderness Heart (9/14).



The Black Angels third album is the highly anticipated Phosphene Dream, which is set to come out on September 14th in the US and September 13th in the UK. Phosphene Dream marks a giant leap forward for the band. Produced and mixed by Dave Sardy (Oasis, Wolfmother, Black Mountain) over a period of six months in Los Angeles, the album shows off both sonically and musically a bold new direction for The Black Angels, a fresh take on the neo-Psychedelic movement they’ve been at the forefront of for years.

Courtney Love's "anarchy violinist" returns to the stage and is keeping the spotlight all to herself. With appearances on Leno and Letterman, glossy magazine covers, and guest spots on the albums of such artists as Love, Otep, Billy Corgan, and TV's "Metalocalypse," under her corset strings, Emilie Autumn's devilishly dark lyrics, metal-shredding violin solos, and industrial-strength voice reinvent "gothic" for the masses, and goths have never had so much fun.

Chosen by Interview Magazine as one of their "14 Artists to Watch," the Los Angeles-born starlet's theatrical stage show is a sexy circus of glam-rock burlesque, backed by a scantily-clad girl band known to EA's devoted fans as the Bloody Crumpets. But as the sole composer, performer, and producer of her latest full-length album, the double disc "Opheliac," EA gets personal. Written in the style she calls "Victoriandustrial," this magnificent musical adventure draws upon EA's background as a child-prodigy classical violinist growing up on the stages of concert halls around the world, and combines it with her passion for harsh industrialism, aggressive metal, and all things Vaudeville. The subject matter of this elaborate concept album is much darker however, bravely and often humorously addressing highly controversial issues ranging from manic depression (the harpsichord-driven title track as well as the contagiously danceable "Swallow" and the epic "Misery Loves Company"), self-mutilation ("Liar," a terrifying decent into hell), and sexual abuse ("Gothic Lolita") to suicide (the beautifully ironic "The Art of Suicide"), and touching on EA's real-life experience as a psych ward inmate (the tragically funny "Thank God I'm Pretty," from the "Opheliac -- Deluxe Edition" Bonus Disc).

- emilieautumn.com

Limited $22 advanced all-building tickets include Bonobo (DJ Set) in Smartbar (must be 21+ for Smartbar entry)

Over the last couple of years, Bonobo has become one of the premier artists on the Ninja Tune imprint and certainly one of the most listened to, with over 16 million plays recorded on LastFM. His combination of superb live shows and studio wizardry means that he is now perfectly placed to push on into a yet bigger league. With “Black Sands,” Bonobo has made the record to achieve it.
Simon Green was born and grew up in rural Hampshire, escaping to Brighton aged eighteen. There he fell into the jazz/hip hop/funk/soul scene centred around Rob Luis and nights like phonic:hoop. An accomplished musician as a teenager, he began producing his own tracks, pushing at the template established in the sweaty little venues studding the Lanes.
Green’s first release came on Luis’ label, Tru Thoughts, when his track “Terrapin” was included on the compilation “When Shapes Join Together” in 1999. His debut album, “Animal Magic” followed the next year, completely self-produced and largely self-played, too. Hailed as one of the “new downtempo pioneers,” Green found himself attracting the attention of other labels and eventually signed to Ninja Tune.
In 2003 he released his first album for the label, “Dial ‘M’ For Monkey.” This was a time when Green was also focussing heavily on his DJing, playing banging dancefloor sets of hip hop, funk and drum & bass up and down the country and across Europe, a period which reached its apogee with the release of the mix album “Solid Steel: It Came From The Sea.”
“Days To Come” followed in 2006, Green opting for a lusher, more live sound than on his earlier records. To tie in with this musical development, he put together and rehearsed a live band that could bring the music of his records to life. As a result he has moved from selling out the Luminaire to selling out Koko to selling out Kentish Town Forum and the Roundhouse and producing the live DVD to prove it. “Days To Come” also scooped the Gilles Peterson listnerer’s poll for Album of The Year. At the award ceremonies he met the talented UK soul singer Andreya Triana. Not only did the friendship they struck up result in Andreya’s superb contributions to “Black Sands” but Si has produced the whole of her solo debut, coming from Ninja later in the year.
Over the last couple of years, Bonobo has become one of the premier artists on the Ninja Tune imprint and certainly one of the most listened to, with over 16 million plays recorded on LastFM. His combination of superb live shows and studio wizardry means that he is now perfectly placed to push on into a yet bigger league. With “Black Sands,” Bonobo has made the record to achieve it.

Recently, the Reverend Horton Heat, aka Jim Heath, had something along the lines of what he calls an epiphany.

He's a little tired of being taken so seriously-well, maybe not seriously, exactly, but you get the idea-and lately he's noticed that some of his funnier, country-tinged songs were his biggest crowd pleasers. Besides, being entertaining is what this is all about, right?

So, ladies and gents, roll your smokes up in your sleeve and hold on to your cowboy hats, it's time to take a trip back to a time before slick, over-produced country became the norm-a time when outlaws wrote songs about being without a pot to piss in-or at least about psycho exboyfriends and deadbeat girlfriends that spend your paycheck faster than you can say Lone Star.

Welcome to Laughin' and Cryin' with the Reverend Horton Heat a record full of country-heavy tunes about bad habits, well-meaning but clueless husbands, ever-expanding beer-guts and, well, Texas. It wouldn't be a Reverend Horton Heat record without a song or-in this case, two-about the Lone Star State. And, while Laughin' and Cryin' marks a detour from the hard driving punkabilly of the Rev's last record, 2004's Revival, this time tending toward honk, there's still some shit-kickers ["Death Metal Guys"] to let you know that Heath and crew still mean business.

Without a doubt, the mighty Reverend has won a cult following around the world these past 20+ years with a nearly endless touring ethic and musical style that's equally as rooted in tradition as it is in breaking it. He's one of the lynchpins of the neoroots movement and responsible for moving the genre forward and garnering it a whole new generation of fans. Mix that with a mythic stage presence and you've got a live act that turns rock clubs into psychobilly tent revivals across the country 300 days a year.

Heath, who personally loves good old, mid-20th century country music, cautions that the record was not born out of a desire to introduce his audience to a new set of influences-it's just meant to have a little fun. Besides, he warns, his next record may just be a set of "avant-garde versions of Swahili folk songs done on homemade instruments."

"Never say never," Heath said.

- reverendhortonheat.com