CMJ » Brendan Mehan

Life Or Death PR Showcase @ Cake Shop: October 20, 2011

Brendan Mehan — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:20:07 +0000

Photo by Brendan Mehan

Sacramento-based hardcore/punk quartet Trash Talk rounded out the bill at Life Or Death PR‘s showcase last night at a packed Cake Shop. Showcases like this are interesting. Any larger PR firm obviously takes on artists from a wide range of musical creeds, so when the company’s highlights are put together in one evening of music, the combination will either come off as a random, all-encompassing musical genre stew or it will somehow all work out perfectly and everyone will leave with a more sophisticated and diverse musical pallet to take home and show mom and dad. I don’t know if that over exaggerated latter totally came through, but the diversity was more successful than one might have originally expected.

The showcase was long, so obviously the entire list of bands from 8 p.m. to 3 a.m. was not covered. Immediately leading up to Trash Talk was a grouping of hip-hop acts. Pittsburgh’s Wise Blood held down a solid, heartfelt set of electronic sample-filled songs; however, at times the audience seamed a bit alienated by the lead singer’s frank, self-loathing and destructive bouts. For example, in between songs he discussed his plans for jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge or about how the next song perfectly showed how much he hates himself. He then jumped on top of the bar and kicked mine and some other drinks on to the floor. Come on man, that shit was like six bucks.

The following act, Main Attrakionz, though not a big leap in terms of genre, took the mood in a whole different direction. The Oakland, CA, duo rapped over 808-heavy, Southern-style slow beats, keeping the subject matter light. Though the two aren’t old enough to legally drink, they apparently have enough experience with pills and weed to make a whole set out of it.

Cake Shop was the best and worst place for a band like Trash Talk to headline. The small, dingy room suits the hardcore band’s fierce edge, but the sound quality did the group zero justice. This is especially true for lead singer Lee Spielman whose vocals were barely audible. Despite this and frequent guitar cut-outs, the energy was so thick and the vibe so relentless that the band took the room from a chilled-out hip-hop vibe to a violent, sweat-dripping-from-the-ceiling type of mood after only a few songs. Spielman reveled in the close quarters with the fans from the floor-level stage, frequently instigating mosh pits and occasionally taking swipes at crowd members. After blasting through probably 20 to 25 minutes of two-minute-long punk gems, including the majority of Trash Talk’s recently released and acclaimed EP, Awake, Spielman concluded the set and sat down for a well deserved breath. This is also after he kicked me straight in the chest while I was trying to get a picture.

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B – Jesus

Brendan Mehan — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 16:36:37 +0000

MC Blu, aka Johnson Barnes, returns with his first studio album since 2009′s Her Favorite Colo(u)r. This time recording under the moniker B, Barnes delivers Jesus, one of this summer’s smoothest groupings of hip-hop tracks.

Wielding his new name as a vehicle to experiment with a different style, Barnes lets his listeners know that he really doesn’t give a rat’s ass about choruses and hooks. With Jesus, Blu puts lyrics and vocals in the back seat, leaving the album’s rhythm and mood in the forefront. Using slow drum beats and samples from some of the dirtiest, dustiest crates of ’60s and ’70s soul, R&B, doo-wop and southern funk, B successfully creates one overarching smooth, laid-back feel for the album’s 11 tracks.

The slow-rolling production on Jesus is so relaxing at times that it will almost put a listener to sleep. Another thing that may contribute to that is the low-fi quality of the vocal recordings. A lot of the time, B is barely comprehensible. He also sounds like he skipped any chance to step into a vocal booth to do any recordings for the album, instead opting to use a other things like his buddy’s iPhone recorder or the tape deck found in his basement, all utilized in uncontrolled environments like the kitchen or back porch during a post work relaxation session.

However, the low-fi recording doesn’t necessarily detract from the album’s overall quality, instead completing the mood. Squeaky clean vocals put to dirty, grimy beats like this would throw everything off, making the effort seem forced. B’s passive mood isn’t meant to be a storming force moving in today’s hip-hop environment. It instead works as the perfect cool breeze to float through, carrying away the blunt smoke.

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Aristocracy Of East New York: Cerebral Ballzy Reigns Supreme

Brendan Mehan — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:00:40 +0000

East New York’s Cerebral Ballzy is like the infected wart on the androgynous ass of the current New York City synthpop scene. Taking influence from the darker sides of the ’80s (Black Flag not New Order), the five-piece of skateboarding, pizza-eating, 40-ounce-drinking and hardcore-punk-blasting dudes seems to be taking its mild amount of recent success calmly and confidently.

Before playing a show in London, Honor Titus, the group’s hyper and charismatic lead singer, calls up CMJ for a quick chat, and the long-distance connection inevitably drops out. The publicist immediately rings back and apologizes. Before putting Titus back on the line, she asks, “Is it all right that he is saying a lot of this stuff?”

Titus’ real-life, in-person persona is about as brash and unforgiving as the hardcore music for which his band is known. It is also just as genuine. “I’m kinda fucked up right now,” he says. On what? “Let’s just say alcohol,” he says with a laugh. Cerebral Ballzy’s self-titled debut LP, out via on Adult Swim’s Williams Street, is deeply rooted in hardcore punk from the late ’70s and early ’80s via Dead Boys, Circle Jerks and every other lesser or greater band that managed to spit out snarling screams and distorted guitar lines during that messy and beautiful era. Though the group acknowledges these easy comparisons, Titus describes his music in different terms. “The new album sounds like trying to do a tre flip in your garage for like three weeks,” he says, “and not landing one.”

Cerebral Ballzy has been around for more than three years, and like any good punk band, the group built itself by delivering hard-hitting, unforgiving live shows at any and all DIY venues it could find. Titus reflects on past shows like the one where he sprained his ankle after jumping off of an amp, the other where the guitarist almost had to have a finger amputated after a guitar string cut got infected and that time when a couple having sex in front of the stage distracted the crowd from the group’s set. All standard, right? The group’s secret to putting on a gnarly show, according to Titus, is “fast music, white powder and, I don’t know, cheeseburgers?” He then reflects on the list he gave, starts to laugh and then backs it up, saying “We’re fuckin’ aristocrats, dude.”

At one point, Titus suddenly cuts off the conversation by bursting into laughter. “You sound like Spencer,” he says. “You ever talk to that dude?” He’s talking about Spencer Pollard, the bass player from Sacramento’s Trash Talk, a group that almost runs side by side with Cerebral Ballzy. Pollard was allegedly stabbed by a white supremacist this past spring. “He’s OK, he’s OK,” Titus reassures. “He’s a fucking g. I think he still whopped all their asses.”

Cerebral Ballzy has received a lot of attention for being interracial, and Titus enters a somber mood when asked if the band has ever dealt with racial issues itself. “I guess it depends on what the word issue entails,” he says. “A lot of people think we’re big just because we’re multiracial and that makes us gimmicky.” Titus has been asked enough questions about race in his interview lifetime for now, and he would rather talk about something else, like his tattoos, one being a “cat wearing a jacket” and another being “a chick showing her tits.” To Titus, the role of race in his group is as inconsequential as the expiration date on the bottom of the 40 ounce he buys at the bodega. “Whatever man,” he says. “We’re not sweating anything. We’re just skating and drinking and making our music.”

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Bushwick Walkabout Day 2: July 16, 2011

Brendan Mehan — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 18:59:28 +0000

This happened during Wowser Bowser's set. Photo by Maverick Inman

Part two of the Bushwick Walkabout Festival went down on Saturday, entertaining Brooklyn’s hippest with a 10-band, all-day-spanning lineup of music crammed between two old factories in the ‘Shwick’s west end, all fueled by free beer and vodka handouts. The bands that took the ground-level, concrete stage throughout the day were Cold Fronts, Back Words, Little Gold, Fort Lean, Courtesy Tier, Wowser Bowser, Yes Way, Slam Donahue, Headless Horsemen, Magic Man.

A lot of the small aspects of the festival were exactly as one would expect from a musical event located in Bushwick: Almost all of the concertgoers were in their mid-twenties, most were rocking some version of thick-rimmed glasses, a lot of already short shorts were being worn even shorter with the help of cuffs, and of course, anyone wearing a T-shirt with actual sleeves was in the minority in the sea of tank tops and cut-offs. But the fest didn’t stoop to superficiality. I had very little knowledge of any of the bands playing, so I used Walkabout as a tool for music discovery. This wasn’t the case for many of the criminally hip members of the audience. At any given moment, you could locate at least five people singing along with each band. There were never any moments when the audience seemed to be not enjoying or at least not paying any of the bands respect. When it comes down to it, the point of a music event, no matter how big or small, is for the people in attendance to enjoy what’s going on at the front.

One immediate standout was the Brooklyn-based Fort Lean. Though the group took the stage early in the day, its shimmering, chilled-out beach rock was received with all smiles by the audience. This could be attributed to the high energy of the group, its catchy songs and the charisma of the lead singer. Yes Way was also awesome, switching back and forth between a poppy, folk-rock kind of feel and driving hard-rock and blues. Atlanta’s Wowser Bowser definitely killed it as well with its over-the-top electronic rock, epic and joyful enough to miss being cheesy.

The day was long, and that was apparent in the audience members’ faces toward the end. It might have been the length or maybe it was the free alcohol that burned a lot of people out. Many were sitting, some were passed out, and some wasted guy tried to stop one of the bands’ sets because he thought a fire was coming out from underneath the stage. It was a synthetic smoke machine.

Kudos for shooting all ten bands that played on the day goes to Maverick Inman

Yes Way:

Next Page: Cold Fronts and Backwords

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Black Lips Is For The Kids

Brendan Mehan — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 17:02:38 +0000

“This sandwich kinda sucks,” says one Black Lips member to another. All four of the guys from the self-described “flower-punk” group are in rare, subdued form while sitting around a table in the upstairs seating area of a dingy, midtown Manhattan deli, the kind of place that deserved the B rating it received. The time is around 1:30 in the afternoon, but they look sleepy-eyed or maybe just a little hungover. Their voices are scratchy, making them sound like a cross between heavy smokers and little kids who just spent three hours gleefully yelling at a friend’s birthday party.

Black Lips’ raucous live shows have built it a wild and intriguing reputation in the indie music community, providing fans with a welcome escape into a beer-fueled and bodily fluid-filled world of adolescent energy. The band has spent the better part of the last decade reaching out to the farthest nether-regions of the globe, going to places where other musicians would never dream of unloading gear and plugging in, allowing that rowdy reputation to spread abroad. It has upped the offensive ante over the years, going from being referred to as a public nuisance in newspapers in its home state of Georgia to being run out of the country of India after singer and guitarist Cole Alexander’s pants and underwear mysteriously disappeared on stage.

Now, after more than 10 years making music together, the group is ready to let people know that there is more to it than just shock value. “Everyone wants to talk about the pee-pee and the poo-poo,” says guitarist Ian Saint Pé, “but how much can you talk about pee-pee and poo-poo?” “We’re grownups,” remarks Alexander. “Everybody does it.” Though most reserve it for the comfort and private of their own homes as opposed to on a stage in front of hundreds of people, Saint Pé makes a point. There is much more to the group than body discharge.

Black Lips showed signs of musical maturation this year with its June-released album and sixth studio work, Arabia Mountain. The guys brought in British producer Mark Ronson to help, marking the first time they have used a producer or really asked for any outside opinion while putting together a record. “It had to be Grammy-award winning,” jokes Saint Pé when asked why they got more serious with this LP. The awards aren’t until early next year, but the Grammy-winning Ronson, known for producing material for the likes of Amy Winehouse, Lily Allen, Ghostface Killah, Wale, Q-Tip and others, might bring Black Lips some trophy luck.

None of the members seem at all star-struck by their work with Ronson, choosing to drop joke after joke about the producer’s successes. But their irreverent, young-at-heart attitude has always covered up how much like Southern gentlemen those involved in Black Lips actually may be. “Everyone just wants to bring up the bad things we do,” says Alexander. Through the band’s career, the members have given a fair amount back to those around them, frequently playing shows for Camelot For Kids, an organization geared toward helping out kids with autism.

“Camelot For Kids holds a special place in my heart because I was in special ed. classes when I was in high school,” says Alexander. “It’s a soft spot for us really.” The group also donates a lot of money to an organization that does cochlear implants for deaf children. “We like kids,” says bassist Jared Swilley. “They’re not cowards—they’re pure.”

The group also admits to sending some money to a school in Japan after it was ravaged by the April tsunami, hoping to buy the kids some new computers for school. Where did the guys get their donation funds? “The bank? Out of pocket,” Alexander says. “When we get bigger we’ll try to step up our philanthropy.” Not worrying about sounding cocky, Alexander promises, “If we get as big as Bono, I promise to do twice as much as what he has done for the world.” “What’s that joke?” asks the soft-spoken drummer Joe Bradley. “Every time Bono claps his hands, a child in a third-world country dies?”

Black Lips is currently putting together a tour that will bring it through the Middle East, hopefully landing in Iraq for a show. “Things are a little fickle out there,” Alexander says sarcastically while leaning in to sip his coffee. “It’s a little flaky in the region.” The members plan to play at a university in Iraq where students apparently listen to bands like the Strokes and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and they’ll inevitably have to tone down their live performance antics. “It’s going to be Black Lips lite,” says Alexander. Yhough he insists that even a more subdued version of Black Lips is still “going to shock the shit out of them.”

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Max Burgundy

Brendan Mehan — Fri, 20 May 2011 14:46:47 +0000

Max Burgundy, a rapper born and bred in New York City, takes on the complexities of the world within his rhymes but refuses to forget about life’s simple pleasures. Backed by nostalgic, sample-filled beats, Burgundy’s flow is laid back and uses a classic rhyming style while employing the highly personal storytelling techniques of contemporary rappers like Murs and Atmosphere. He runs off of the very simple principle “Oreos for breakfast,” a lighthearted “when life gives you lemons” type of idea meant to describe dealing with what you’ve got and making your own way in the world.

Burgundy was born in the Bronx but has since relocated to Brooklyn. He describes the move as revitalizing because that’s where all the “music and people [his] age are living.” Born Max Rivera, he contemplated using multiple stage names. “As I moved into rapping about more personal and real things, I thought, why not use my government name?” he says. “There is nothing realer than using your own name.” But a decision to sub out his last name was made to reflect his love of burgundy wine. As far as we can tell, he has no intentions of making Will Farrell movie references.

Already having shared the stage with some of indie hip-hop’s big names like Atmosphere, Das Racist and Eyedea (RIP), Burgundy hopes to reach out further into the indie world. “I want to work with JJ, Lykke Li and Santigold,” he tells CMJ, describing how exciting it would be to hear “beats from indie groups and people that normally don’t make hip-hop but use the same equipment.” His goto beatmaker is KayKay On The Beatz, a Chicago-based producer whom Max describes as “dope and so slept on.”

Burgundy and KayKay are finishing up a mix together, Stuff White People Like, set to be released sometime in late June. Burgundy describes the upcoming record as a “collage of nostalgic sounds” as well as “the opposite of [his] ‘Oreos for breakfast’ lifestyle, lyrical, entertaining, personal, explorative and provocative.” A mixture that he says is “classic Max Burgundy.”

Artists, submit for your chance to be the Sonicbids Spotlight here.

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13 And God – Own Your Ghost

Brendan Mehan — Tue, 17 May 2011 12:00:51 +0000

Six years ago, German experimental rock outfit Notwist and Bay area hip-hop group Themselves paired, formed 13 And God and released a self-titled album. The album was received positively, but there was much speculation of the legitimacy of the group being an actual band and not just a one-off musical and cultural experiment. Returning now with Own Your Ghost, the group proves that it is not just a gimmicky mash-up of two preexisting projects.

Like any collaboration, Own Your Ghost is at its best when the group members play off of each other’s strengths. On the glitchy, driving “Janu Are,” the soulful “Death Major” and the somber, ambient “Unyoung,” the group comes together to sound completely different from what its halves sound like separately. The two are not just satisfied with creating a band medley of sorts, an outcome of so many rap and rock collaborations in the past. The track “Armored Scarves” is a truly epic ballad, and if every song on the album were as interesting and inspired, this would easily be one of the best albums released so far this year.

The album lags a bit on a few songs where it sounds like one half of the group had the majority of the say during the writing process. These instances are few and far between though, leaving the rest of the album as an intriguing concoction of two bands coming from polar opposite sides of the musical spectrum and meeting in the middle to make something new.

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Epitaph Signs Dangerous!

Brendan Mehan — Thu, 12 May 2011 20:29:40 +0000

Epitaph is pleased to announce that it has signed Dangerous!, one of the loudest bands to come out of Australia in a long time. Though the band has been deemed “cock-rock” in the past (nobody wants that), a more aptly appointed description could be high-production garage rock with its tattered vocal screaming and MC5 guitar-riff ripping. But who knows, maybe the guys are into the title. The group does include Guns N’ Roses and AC/DC in its influences.

The four-piece flew to Los Angeles last summer to record Teenage Rampage, set to be released this summer. In 2009, the band’s tour was followed by MTV Australia cameras. The footage was released as a six-episode series called The Diary Of Dangerous. The show was a hit in its home country, topping everyone’s favorite, The Hills.

The group plans to tour both the U.S. and the U.K. this summer following the release of Teenage Rampage. Check out the group’s single “Not One Of You,” streaming here.

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Tom Tom Club Spreads Its ‘Genius’ On Tour

Brendan Mehan — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:51:10 +0000

Celebrating 30 years as a band, Tom Tom Club will be touring the U.K. and the U.S.’s East Coast this summer. This follows the release of Genius Of Live, a reissue of the group’s iconic Live At The Club House album, recorded at the group’s home studio in Connecticut for a select group of friends in October 2001, only a month after the Sept. 11 attacks. The reissue also contains remixes of the group’s signature song “Genius Of Love” by Ozomatli, Nortec Collective, Money Mark, Mexican Institute Of Sound and others.

Tom Tom Club was founded by Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth back in 1981. At the time, both were members of the legendary new-wave band Talking Heads. During a break from the band, the husband-and-wife team recorded Tom Tom Club’s first album in Nassau, Bahamas, creating a danceable mix of reggae, Afro-beat, electro and hip-hop. The group’s “Genius Of Love,” has been sampled countless times since its original recording. Some notables include Grand Master Flash and Tupac Shakur. If you need proof that the group still rips live, check out its performance on Jimmy Kimmel below. Tour Dates are also listed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibUwyPvf9oA&

Tour Dates For Tom Tom Club:
06/03 – Amagansett, NY – Stephen Talkhouse
06/04 – Pittsburgh, PA – Three Rivers Arts Festival
06/05 – Annapolis, MD – Ram’s Head On Stage
06/06 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theater
06/10 – Ridgefield, CT – Ridgefield Theater
07/14 – Wales, UK – Cardiff University
07/15 – London, UK – Jazz Cafe
07/16 – London, UK – Jazz Cafe
07/17 – London, UK – Jazz Cafe
07/19 – Birmingham, UK – Institute
07/20 – Glasgow, Scotland – ABC
07/22 – Dublin, Ireland – Harmonic Weekender Festival
08/13 – East Hampton, NY – Music To Know Festival

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Darwin Deez Offers Download, Gears Up For Headlining Tour

Brendan Mehan — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:30:19 +0000

Globally loved, mustachioed, pop singer-songwriter Darwin Smith and his band, Darwin Deez, have announced that they will be doing a coast-to-coast headlining tour this summer. This is following a successful worldwide run of shows in Europe and Australia. The group is known for putting on an interesting and entertaining show, occasionally dropping all instruments and beginning full-on choreographed dance sequences ranging from ballet to interpretive. Other accounts say the group began moshing in the crowd along to Rage Against The Machine or that lead singer Smith spit some cutesy rhymes over beats in between songs, an image that sounds far from street legit from the look of the man’s curls and headband. But hey, at least the group knows how to stand out.

The Brooklyn-based band is allowing a download of the song “DNA” to celebrate the tour announcement. Darwin Deez has reason to celebrate: Its self-titled debut will be getting a physical release May 23 from New York label Lucky Number. The tour dates are listed below.

Tour Dates For Darwin Deez:
07/06 – San Francisco, CA – Bottom Of The Hill
07/07 – Los Angeles, CA – The Echo
07/12 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
07/13 – Washington, DC – Black Cat
07/15 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom
07/16 – Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall

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Ninjasonik Dives Into “Mosh Pit”

Brendan Mehan — Wed, 11 May 2011 16:54:30 +0000

Two weeks ago while performing at Bamboozle in East Rutherford, NJ, Brooklyn’s Ninjasonik debuted its new single, “Mosh Pit,” closing out an already wild set in perfect raucous form. The single is the first from the duo’s upcoming sophomore release, Peter Pan Syndrome, set to be released September 20. The record will be the follow-up to 2010′s Art School Girls, released last April via Green Owl. The single is now available in YouTube form on the band’s website as well as posted below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkPwwLvCdbM&feature=share

The group takes a bigger step toward the polished world of high production electronica with the help of Dutch DJ duo, the Partysquad. The two groups met a while back while working with Roxy Cocktail. I had the chance to meet with Ninjasonik earlier this year while Peter Pan Syndrome was being mixed and can promise that this is the direction that a lot of the group’s new songs are headed.

The group plans to be touring through the summer, leading up to the release of Peter Pan Syndrome.

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Goes Cube On Tour For This Week Only

Brendan Mehan — Tue, 10 May 2011 20:00:03 +0000

Heavy metal band Goes Cube will be cruising down the east coast this week. Starting tonight in Portland, ME the group will make stops in Boston and Connecticut before stopping off in its home turf of Brooklyn. The complete tour dates can be found below.

The group is touring in support of its recently released sophomore LP, In Tides And Drifts, released at the end of March via the End. The band is notorious for loud and vicious live shows; a legacy earned before the band even had a real drummer. When the group started, it was using a drum machine. At the time, the group also number all of its song titles, an idea inspired by the drum machine saving each new song as a track number. The group has since found a human to put behind a drum kit and started naming songs with words.

Tour Dates For Goes Cube:
05/10 – Portland, ME – Space Gallery
05/11 – Boston, MA – O’Briens
05/12 – New London, Ct – Backstage At The Oasis
05/13 – Brooklyn, NY – St. Vitus

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Acacia Strain Announces First Live Album

Brendan Mehan — Tue, 10 May 2011 17:30:30 +0000

The Acacia Strain will release its first live album, The Most Known Unknown, on June 21 via Prosthetic. The album’s material comes from two shows; one recorded in Worcester, MA and the other in Holyoke, MA. The album is actually the audio-only counterpart to a concert DVD released in February last year by the same people who shot and released a God Forbid DVD a few years ago, which was received well by fans and metal heads all over. The album also comes with a pop-up, thumbs up kind of thing, which may not make sense until demonstrated via the video below:

Fun Fact: For those that somehow don’t remember, the title of the album, The Most Unknown, is also the title of one of the albums by everyone’s favorite Oscar-winning, syrup-sipping rap crew, Three 6 Mafia. Keep in mind while alphabetizing.

The album will be released just as the group sets out on its first run on the Vans Warped Tour. All upcoming tour dates for the group are listed below.

Tour Dates For The Acacia Strain:
06/17 – New Haven, CT – Toad’s Place ~
06/24 – Dallas, TX – Gexa Energy Pavillion *
06/25 – Houston, TX – The Showgrounds At Sam Houston Race Park *
06/26 – San Antonio, TX – AT&T Center *
06/29 – Las Cruces, NM – NMSU Practice Field *
06/30 – Las Vegas, NV – Plaza Hotel Parking Lot *
07/01 – Pomona, CA – Pomona Fairplex *
07/02 – Mountain View, CA – Shoreline Amphitheatre *
07/03 – Ventura, CA – Ventura County Fairground At Seaside Park *
07/06 – Bonner Springs, KS – Sandstone Amphitheatre *
07/07 – Noblesville, IN – Verizon Wireless Music Center *
07/08 – Detroit, MI – Comerica Park *
07/09 – Tinley Park, IL – First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre *
07/10 – Shakopee, MN – Canterbury Park *
07/12 – Darien Center, NY – Darien Lakes Fields *
07/13 – Mansfield, MA – Comcast Center *
07/14 – Scranton, PA – Toyota Pavilion At Montage Mountain *
07/15 – Mississauga, ON – The Flats At Arrow Hall *
07/16 – Montreal, QC – Parc Jean-Drapeau *
07/17 – Hartford, CT – Comcast Theatre *
07/19 – Milwaukee, WI – Marcus Amphitheatre *
07/20 – Cleveland, OH – Blossom Music Center *
07/21 – Camden, NJ – Susquehanna Bank Center *
07/22 – Burgettstown, PA – First Niagara Pavilion *
07/23 – Uniondale, NY – Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum *
07/24 – Oceanport, NJ – Monmouth Park Raceway *
07/26 – Columbia, MD – Merriweather Post Pavillion *
07/27 – Virginia Beach, VA – Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre *
07/28 – Charlotte, NC – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater *
07/29 – Orlando, FL – Central Florida Fairgrounds *
07/30 – West Palm Beach, FL – Cruzan Amphitheatre *
07/31 – St. Petersburg, FL – Vinoy Park *
08/01 – Atlanta, GA – Aaron’s Amphitheater At Lakewood *
08/02 – Cincinnati, OH – Riverbend Music Center *
08/03 – St. Louis, MO – Verizon Wireless Amphitheater *
08/04 – Council Bluffs, IA- Westfair Fairgrounds *
08/05 – Denver, CO – Invesco Field At Mile High *
08/06 – Salt Lake City, UT – Utah State Fairpark *
08/07 – Phoenix, AZ – Desert Sky Pavilion *
08/09 – San Diego, CA – Cricket Amphitheatre *
08/10 – Los Angeles, CA – Cal State Dominguez Hills *
08/11 – Marysville, CA – Sleep Train Amphitheater *
08/12 – Nampa, ID – Idaho Center Amphitheatre *
08/13 – George, WA – The Gorge Amphitheatre *
08/14 – Hillsboro, OR – Washing County Fairgrounds *
10/05 – Bangkok, TH – The Rock #
10/08 – Manila, Philippines- Venue Hall #
* Vans Warped Tour
~ with Hatebreed
# with Every Time I Die

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‘Red Hot + Rio 2′ Compilation Full Of Collaboration

Brendan Mehan — Thu, 05 May 2011 18:22:53 +0000

The Red Hot Organization has announced the release of Red Hot + Rio 2, a compilation of 33 collaborations between some of Brazil’s musical legends and today’s biggest indie-rock names. The entire list can be found below along with the album’s tracklist, but let’s reflect on a few mentionables: Aloe Blacc contributes to multiple songs, Of Montreal teams up with legendary Brazilian psychedelic band Os Mutantes, Beck gets together with Seu Jorge, Beirut covers Caetano Veloso’s “O Leãozinho,” while Veloso goes into the studio with David Byrne. Apparently Dirty Projectors, St. Vincent and Neon Indian will also be contributing, however, none of the groups have finished recording, so the organization will be releasing those tracks as bonus digital downloads.

The original Red Hot + Rio was a Bossa Nova-inspired compilation released back in 1996. The organization has decided to get a little more weird this time around, making the compilation entirely of Brazilian Tropicália covers. Tropicália is a genre that rose from a Brazilian art movement back in the late ’60s, covering theater, poetry, music and visual art. The musical part of the scene was based on the idea of antropofagia, or the attempt to blend together all cultural and musical influences, achieving a completely unique product. The movement was short lived, but its influence has been far reaching.

In case you’ve never heard of the Red Hot Organization, it is a company that raises money and awareness for the fight against AIDS. Since its inception, the company has released 16 compilation albums, sold three million records and donated more than 10 million dollars to the fight against HIV/AIDS and the social issues that come along with the disease.

Tracklist For Red Hot + Rio 2:
Disc One
01. Alice Smith and Aloe Blacc – “Baby”
 02. Beck and Seu Jorge – “Tropicália (Mario C 2011 Remix)”
 03. Mia Doi Todd and José González – “Um Girassol Da Cor Do Seu Cabelo” 
04. Quadron – “Samba De Verão”
 05. Vanessa Da Mata and Seu Jorge And Almaz – “Boa Reza” 
06. John Legend – “Love I’ve Never Known” 
07. Aloe Blacc and Clara Moreno – “Nascimento (Rebirth) – Scene 2″ 
08. Curumin – “Ela (Ticklah Remix)” 
09. Aloe Blacc and Alice Smith – “Baby (Old Dirty Baby Dub Version)” 
10. Superhuman Happiness and Cults – “Um Canto De Afoxé Para O Bloco Do Ilê” 
11. Om’Mas Keith – “Mistérios”
 12. Forró In The Dark, Brazilian Girls and Angelique Kidjo – “Aquele Abraço” 
13. Mia Doi Todd – “Canto De Iemanjá” 
14. Caetano Veloso – “Terra (Prefuse 73 ’3 Mellotrons In A Quiet Room’ Version)” 
15. Marisa Monte, Devendra Banhart and Rodrigo Amarante: “Nú Com A Minha Música” 
16. Bebel Gilberto – “Acabou Chorare” 
17. David Byrne and Caetano Veloso – “Dreamworld: Marco De Canaveses”

Disc Two
01. Beirut – “O Leãozinho”
 02. Tha Boogie – “Panis Et Circensis” 
03. Of Montreal and Os Mutantes – “Bat Macumba” 
04. Phenomenal Handclap Band and Marcos Valle – “Tudo O Que Você Podia Ser” 
05. Madlib and Joyce Moreno – “Banana Feat. Generation Match” 
06. Marina Gasolina and Secousse – “Freak Le Boom Boom” 
07. Money Mark, Thalma De Freitas and João Parahyba – “Tropical Affair” 
08. Los Van Van and Carlinhos Brown – “Soy Loco Por Ti, América” 
09. Orquestra Contemporânea De Olinda and Emicida – “Roda” 
10. Mayra Andrade and Trio Mocotó – “Berimbau”
 11. Apollo Nove, Céu and N.A.S.A. – “It’s A Long Way”
 12. DJ Dolores, Eugene Hütz, Otto, Fred 04 and Isaar – “A Cidade” 
13. Javelin and Tom Zé – “Ogodô, Ano 2000″
 14. Atom and Toshiyuki Yasuda – “Águas De Março Feat. Fernanda Takai And Moreno Veloso” 
15. Twin Danger – “Show Me Love” 
16. Rita Lee – “Pistis Sophia”

The post ‘Red Hot + Rio 2′ Compilation Full Of Collaboration appeared first on CMJ.

Vaccines Brings Guitar-Rock Cure To North America

Brendan Mehan — Thu, 05 May 2011 17:03:45 +0000

London’s newest band of guitar-rock sweethearts, the Vaccines, will be making its way to North American this spring and summer in support of its acclaimed spring release, What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? (Columbia). The band will be supporting Arctic Monkeys. Along with the dates listed below, the group will be playing some 30 or so festivals around the world this summer, including Ibiza Rocks and Glastonbury. The band’s debut effort is topping the charts in the U.K., making it only a matter of time before it catches on around here.

Though the band is only a year old, it has already built itself a crazed fan base. This is most impressive because the group allegedly didn’t even have a website established by the time it sold out its first hometown show or received the honors of the Guardian‘s “New Band Of The Day” back in October. That sold-out show was apparently a 300-person venue where 200 sad faces had to be turned down due to overcrowding.

What Did You Expect From The Vaccines? is out now. All tour dates are listed below, including the band’s U.S. festival stops.

Tour Dates For The Vaccines:
05/17 – Washington D.C. – 9:30 Club
05/18 – Philadelphia, PA – Electric Factory
05/19 – Boston, MA – House Of Blues
05/21 – Toronto, ON – Kool Haus
05/22 – Montreal, QC – Olympia De Montreal
05/24 – New York, NY – Rumsey Playfield, Central Park
05/26 – Pontiac, MI – Clutch Cargo’s
05/27 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
05/28 – Minneapolis, MN – First Ave
05/29 – Denver. CO – Ogden Theatre
05/31 – Salt Lake City, UT – In The Venue
06/02 – Pomona, CA – Fox Theatre
06/03 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
06/04 – San Francisco, CA – Mezzanine
08/05 – Chicago, IL – Lollapalooza
08/06 – Long Island City, NY – Escape To New York
08/12-14 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands

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