CMJ » Sasha Patpatia

Chelsea Wolfe – Apokalypsis

Sasha Patpatia — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 12:00:09 +0000

Chelsea Wolfe embodies this strange mixture of subtle atypical softness and creepy darkness all at once. She is raw in both image and music, as shown on her sophomore LP, Apokalypsis.

The album’s opening track punches you. Wolfe screams on “Primal/Carnal” as if she’s exorcising demons, creating a track that could accompany a scene from Paranormal Activity. Once you’re immersed, you’ll notice that the rest of the album relaxes into a softer, more melancholy atmosphere.

The second track, “Mer,” is jarringly calmer and softer than “Primal/Carnal,” and Wolfe’s distorted and distant vocals shine through the primal drumming. The song’s dark melody is extremely mature and domineering, and soon into the track Wolfe’s vocals seem nothing more than just another backdrop layer to the haunting melody.

Sometimes you’ll find your mind wandering away from Apokalypsis, as the album dips into lulls that are quite tranquil and borderline insipid. Songs like “Wasteland” and “Pale On Pale” drop the energy and could easily be forgotten among the stronger tracks on the album. The instrumentation on each song, though, is rich and brooding, weaving a distinguishable sound that suitably ties Apokalypsis together.

“Demons” features tribal drumming with Wolfe’s faded voice providing a backdrop for the track’s melody. It’s quite the pick-me-up after “Tracks (Tall Bodies)” and builds this sort of energy that isn’t aggressive, yet hints of hostility and danger are detected. “Movie Screen” is stunning. It seems otherworldly and is the first real sample of Wolfe’s amazing and deep vocal range. This song is the spookiest track on the album, even creepier than “Primal/Carnal” because it feels much more personal than the horror-film soundtrack.

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Bosco (Savannah, GA)

Sasha Patpatia — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 16:00:07 +0000

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to journey through the subconscious of an “organized-chaotic-random-spontaneous ball of goodness and sexy” musician, then Bosco’s upcoming EP, Pacer, welcomes you inside for a look. Savannah, GA’s Brittany Bosco is confident in the benefits that her musical identity can bring to the many styles of music and art with which she is involved. She is a genre-blending soulful vocalist with a rich background in jazz, funk and blues, driven by devotion to creativity and art.

“Music has always been No. 1 for me for as long as I can remember, which led me into the art world,” she says. “It all started in Savannah, where I was exposed to so many different demographics and music scenes. Growing up there I saw how the city changed and how I began to change with the city.” Bosco studied at the Savannah College Of Art And Design, a path that had an impact on her musical career. “Being there, I met the people who helped develop my passion for art and design as a whole, sonically and visually,” she says.

Bosco, together with Mr. Collins and the Jack Of Hearts, is a flagship member of the Big Up!, an interdisciplinary creative collective specializing in music and design. This project provides her with the benefits of working with close friends who have their own creative viewpoint, which in turn speaks to her development as an artist: “I value my friends’ opinion very highly, and I do the same for them. We strive in branding and design and want the visuals to be just as strong as the music itself.”

Bosco’s newest endeavor, working alongside Washed Out’s live-band member Dog Bite, is a conceptual nine-track album that tells the journey of a roadtrip from Atlanta to California in the 1970s. “I met Phil (Dog Bite) at an art show at Mint Gallery in Atlanta randomly while he was interning. I knew from there we needed to work together, so I sent him music the next day, and he responded saying, ‘I dig your tunes, let’s work soon.’” The two artists worked tirelessly on Pacer, defining its message and tone with their individual appeal to the concept. “There were a lot of all-nighters, wine, PBR, Pall Mall cigs, friends who wouldn’t go home, a roommate that probably hated me, four pounds of Haribo gummy bears and ridiculous word games.”

“Pacer”
Pacer by bbosco18

The result of their work is a journey through “all the things we experience from sex, lust, drugs, money, desire and love,” Bosco says. “I’ve always been a little obsessed with the illusion of cocaine, so there are a lot of references in the EP. I wrote from two perspectives, life as if I was on coke and life of a friend of an addict.” The album speaks from the voice of a nomad, “a life of not belonging to one thing.” The concept, so deeply rooted in the artist’s subconscious, was enhanced in the production stage with added textures, ambient and distorted sounds, and of course, Bosco’s stunning vocals. She even tries her hand in production, producing “Baby” on Pacer. But to try to typecast Bosco in just a single definition proves to be useless, as she is a jack-of-all-trades. “Songwriter? I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” she says. “I’m more of an emotion writer. Most of my songs come in a melody first and some stupid words to feel in the moment. I write the lyrics and use the take-out-and-put-in method by making the song make sense to me and run with that.”

Nothing can hold Bosco back from succeeding in her many artistic endeavors these days, even her own personal demons: “My fear of failing and not succeeding drives me, motivates me to push beyond that. Failure is not an option, so fear keeps me humble and realistic. When I feel that fear is trying to consume me, I write my best songs. When I completely let go, I go.”

Download Pacer here.

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Albert Swarm – Held

Sasha Patpatia — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 15:05:02 +0000

Finnish artist Albert Swarm is only revealed in blurry and unidentifiable photos and scant biographical descriptions. Despite this dearth of information, listening to his debut release, Held, on Brooklyn’s Ceremony, gives a fine idea of this artist’s music personality.

The five-track, 20-minute EP is over right as you’re beginning to delve deep into the ambient, distant sound he creates. “Homecoming” begins so subtly that you have to be paying close attention to realize that the track has already started. But this subtle touch is something constant throughout the debut EP, as Swarm turns something small into something substantial.

“Founding Wheels” has a beautiful melody that is accompanied by a darker synth undertone, and when the beat drops one minute in, you’ll be totally absorbed in the entire collection of sounds that builds in this song. Vocal samplings on “Familiarities” kind of hint toward a Moby-like distinction, as the song moves in the direction of an electronic dance track.

“Aging Out” serves as the climax on this short album, with its building instrumental intensity and rich vocals. The final track, “Recurring Dream,” is the most cinematic song on the EP, fit for a hazy dream sequence on the screen or in your mind. It is patient and pensive, a reflection on a bizarre thought process. But before you can really get a good sense of it all, it fades out and the EP is over.

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Pujol Announces Debut EP On Saddle Creek

Sasha Patpatia — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 15:30:29 +0000

Nashville-based rocker Pujol has announced his debut Saddle Creek EP, Nasty, Brutish And Short, to be released October 18. The EP is Pujol’s 10th release in two years and is a lyrically driven album that focuses on “cultural maxims” in today’s society.

Previous EPs, singles and full-lengths have been released on Third Man, Infinity Cat and Evil Weevil among other labels. Pujol heads out this fall on tour with Ted Leo And The Pharmacists, including shows at this year’s CMJ Music Marathon & Film Festival.

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STRFKR Releases New Lil’ Wayne Mashup

Sasha Patpatia — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:30:18 +0000

In the latest installment of STRFKR’s hip-hop mashup series, the Portland trio has taken on Lil Wayne‘s “Lollipop.” STRFKR frontman Josh Hodges’ rendition isn’t dripping with that sexy, “make it juicy for you,” bass beat found in Lil Wayne’s version. Instead, the melodic synth addition layered in the background gives a pleasant and poppy-touch that sounds like it’s been sampled from a Super Mario game.

“Lil’Wayne/Lolliepop/Starfucker/Peachy”
Lil Wayne/Lolliepop /Starfucker/Peachy by starfucker_usa

STRFKR has released a new split 7″ with Champagne Champagne, a Seattle-based hip-hop group. Side A will feature STRFKR’s new “Dragon Queens” tracks, and the B side features “I Fell Through” from Champagne Champagne’s newest album, still at the studio stage.

Tour Dates For STRFKR:
08/10 – Santa Barbara, CA – Soho Restaurant & Music Club
08/11 – Los Angeles, CA – El Rey Theatre
08/13 – San Francisco, CA – Outside Lands Festival
09/02 – Vancouver, Canada – Electric Owl*
09/03 – Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot Festival
09/05 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court*
09/06 – Salt Lake City, UT – Urban Lounge*
09/07 – Denver, CO – Bluebird Theater*
09/09 – Nashville, TN – 12th & Porter*
09/10 – Atlanta, GA – The Masquerade*
09/11 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle*
09/12 – Washington, DC – Black Cat*
09/13 – Philadelphia, PA – First Unitarian Church*
09/16 – Brooklyn, NY – Knitting Factory*
09/17 – New York, NY – Bowery Ballroom*
09/18 – Cambridge, MA – Middle East Downstairs*
09/19 – Montreal, Canada – Il Motore*
09/20 – Toronto, Canada – Lee’s Palace*
09/21 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Theater*
09/23 – Cincinnati, OH – MidPoint Music Festival*
09/24 – Champaign, IL – Highdive (Pygmalion Music Festival)
09/26 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall*
09/27 – Chicago, IL – Lincoln Hall*
09/28 – Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall
09/29 – Northfield, MN – The Cave
09/30 – Sioux Falls, SD – The Vault
10/03 – Missoula, MT – The Badlander
10/05 – Portland, OR – Wonder Ballroom#
* With Beat Connection
# With Pains Of Being Pure At Heart

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Justice Returns With Sophomore LP

Sasha Patpatia — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 17:00:13 +0000

Justice has been lurking below the radar since its Grammy-nominated 2007 debut, Cross, but now the French electronic duo has announced the upcoming release of Audio, Video, Disco, a new LP due October 25 on Ed Banger.

Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé have strayed from their familiar dance electronic sound heard on Cross with the new 11-track LP using more rock and pop influences. Recorded in the duo’s home studio, Audio, Video, Disco features guest vocals from Morgan Phalen, Vincenzi Vendetta and Ali Love, who sang on the album’s first single, “Civilization,” released with the following video in May.

Tracklist For Audio, Video, Disco:
01. Horsepower
02. Civilization
03. Ohio
04. Canon (Primo)
05. Canon
06. On’n'on
07. Brianvision
08. Parade
09. Newlands
10. Helix
11. Audio, Video, Disco

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Goner Fest 8 Releases Official Schedule

Sasha Patpatia — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:41:08 +0000

The lineup has been announced for the eighth annual Goner Fest, taking place September 22-25 in Memphis, TN. Tickets are now on sale via the Goner label’s official site.

The festival includes three evening showcases, three afternoon showcases, and both opening and closing events. The festival’s 35 bands are expected to draw 2,500 indie music fans that weekend, as the lineup includes Ty Segall, Shannon And The Clams, Sex Cult (Google with caution), Coasting and True Sons Of Thunder among many more.

Goner Fest 8 Official Schedule:
09/22 – Opening Ceremonies (5:30 p.m.) – Goner Records (Jack Oblivian, Limes)
09/22 – Thursday Night – Hi Tone (Ty Segall, OBN IIIs, Royal Headache, Mikal Cronin, Hans Condor, Sex Cult, MC NoBunny, DJ Useless Eater and DJ Rick)
09/23 – Afternoon Rock (2 p.m.) – Buccaneer (Straight Arrows, Ryan Rousseau And His Desert Children, Coasting, Sharp Balloons, Cyclops
09/23 – Friday Night – Hi Tone (Gories, Icky Boyfriends, Mean Jeans, James Arthur’s Manhunt, Midnight Snaxxx, Aquafuzz, MC Rob K, DJ Aya Papaya, DJ Robert Dinero and DJ Billiams
09/24 – Afternoon Rock Blowout (1 p.m.) – Murphys (Reverend John Wilkins, Missing Monuments, Kitchen’s Floor, Outdoorsmen, Manatees, Pity Fucks, Football, Shirks!, Real Numbers, True Sons Of Thunder)
09/24 – Saturday Night – Hi Tone (Human Eye, Alarm Clocks, Shannon And The Clams, Deaf Wish, Brides, Black Sunday, MC Dave Dunlap, DJ Seth Sutton and DJ Crenshaw)
09/25 – Sunday Afternoon – Goner (Jam Messengers, Two Tears)
09/25 – Sunday Night – Buccaneer (Goner Fest Comedown)

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Zombies Celebrates 50th Anniversary With North American Tour

Sasha Patpatia — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 16:49:04 +0000

Famed 1960s British rock band the Zombies marks its 50th anniversary with a North American fall tour in support of its latest album, Breathe Out, Breathe In. The album, released back in May, encapsulates the essence of the Zombies music without sounding embarrassingly nostalgic.

Hints of Odessey And Oracle, the band’s 1968 masterpiece, can be detected in Breathe Out, Breathe In due to the two- and three-part harmonies used constantly throughout the album. Rod Argent, Colin Blunstone and the gang will start the tour in Ontario in September and wrap up in British Columbia in October.

Tour Dates For The Zombies:
09/09 – Rama, ON – Casino Rama
09/10 – Niagara Falls, NY – Seneca-Niagara Casino
09/11 – Oneonta, NY – Oneonta Theatre
09/13 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom
09/15 – Bethlehem, PA – MusikFest Cafe at ArtsQuest Center
09/16 – Silver Spring, MD – Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
09/17 – Glenside, PA – Keswick Theatre
09/18 – Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall
09/19 – Annapolis, MD – Rams Head On Stage
09/21 – Foxborough, MA – Showcase Live
09/22 – Londonderry, NH – Tupelo Music Hall
09/23 – Norfolk, CT – Infinity Hall
09/24 – Uncasville, CT – Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino
09/26 – New York, NY – City Winery
09/27 – New York, NY – City Winery
09/28 – State College, PA – State Theatre
09/30 – Phoenix, AZ – Celebrity Theatre
10/01 – Agoura Hills, CA – Canyon Club
10/02 – San Juan Capistrano, CA – Coach House
10/05 – Winnipeg, MB – McPhillips Station Casino
10/07 – Regina, SK – Casino Regina
10/09 – Edmonton, AB – Century Casino
10/12 – Kamloops, BC – Kamloops Convention Center
10/13 – Richmond, BC – River Rock Casino Showroom

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Pepper Rabbit – Red Velvet Snow Ball

Sasha Patpatia — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 14:41:43 +0000

Red Velvet Snow Ball is a haunting and charming sophomore effort by Xander Singh and Luc Laurent, the guys who make up L.A.-based Pepper Rabbit. The band first presented its sound as poppy, upbeat and rock-edged on its debut album, Beauregard, but on Red Velvet Snow Ball, the group drops the rock and dips into experimental sounds, making this a calmer and dreamy endeavor.

“Lake House” opens the album with an ambient melody coupled with a militaristic drum beat. It’s a slower track with many intertwined elements that get more tangled as the song sinks into a murky and static intonation. You enter a more straightforward world of psychedelic pop on “Rose Mary Stretch,” in which you might detect hints of Rogue Wave or Fleet Foxes, while “The Annexation Of Puerto Rico” combines joyful layers of experimental instruments with a peaceful melody.

The album’s first single, “Murder Room,” has a hooking chorus paired with resilient piano and synth melodies. It is a decent display of what the band is capable of, but it doesn’t quite reflect the instrumental achievements shown on the rest of the album. Over the course of Red Velvet Snow Ball, the two-man band augments and varies its sound by incorporating 11 instruments. It took a lot of experimenting, jamming and digression from its old songwriting techniques for Pepper Rabbit to produce such an enjoyable album.

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Olivia Tremor Control Reissues And Fall Tour Dates

Sasha Patpatia — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 21:00:22 +0000

Chunklet Industries will be reissuing both of the Olivia Tremor Control‘s classic full-length albums, Music From The Unrealized Film Script: Dusk At Cubist Castle and Black Foliage: Animation Music Volume One, November 15.

According to Chunklet, the reissues will be available on deluxe gatefold vinyl, and original artwork on the albums has been retouched. Black Foliage has even been remastered, a drastic improvement from the original tapes.

Olivia Tremor Control, along with Apples In Stereo and Neutral Milk Hotel, is an original band from Elephant 6, a collective of musicians from some of the more notable independent ’90s alternative rock bands. A special Dusk/Foliage/T-shirt bundle will be available via Chunklet until the records’ release, and Olivia Tremor Control heads out this fall on a North American tour before heading to the U.K. in December for the ATP Festival.

Tour Dates for Olivia Tremor Control:
08/29 – New Orleans, LA – One Eyed Jacks
08/31 – Austin, TX – Mohawk *
09/03 – Los Angeles, CA – FYF Fest
09/05 – San Francisco, CA – Great American Music Hall *
09/08 – Seattle, WA – Vera Project *
09/09 – Portland, OR – Someday Lounge *
09/12 – Minneapolis, MN – Varsity Theatre *
09/13 – Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge *
09/14 – Columbus, OH – Wexner Center *
09/15 – Pittsburgh, PA – The Warhol at New Hazlett Theatre *
09/16 – Toronto, ON – Lee’s Palace *
09/17 – Montreal, PQ – Il Motore *
09/19 – Allston, MA – Brighton Music Hall *
09/21 – New York, NY – Le Poisson Rouge *
09/23 – Philadelphia, PA – UPENN Rotunda *
09/24 – Durham, NC – The Casbah *
10/11-14 – Athens, GA – Athens PopFest
12/02-04 – Butlins, Minehead, UK – ATP Festival
* With the Music Tapes

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Brass Bed Talks Cajun Music

Sasha Patpatia — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 20:15:30 +0000

Brass Bed, photo by Allison Bohl

Brass Bed is a Lafayette, LA, quartet that channels the power of unrestrained rock and power pop, which it shared on its new LP, Melt White. But recently, the rock ‘n’ roll band dipped into the Cajun music sound that thrives in its hometown for a cover-song project with fellow Lafayette band Feufollet. Cajun folk music is a French Louisiana tandem from Creole-based, Cajun-influenced origins. Feufollet specializes in this style, mixing genres and electrifying audiences with its dance-inspiring songs.

Like most traditional Cajun tracks, Feufollet composes narrative ballads of solitude, loss and ill-fated love, stemming from the historical roots of Cajun exile. The genre adopts a somewhat didactic tone as it carries itself into the current Lafayette music scene. As Brass Bed approaches these themes and styles, its pop-rock sound is transformed into a rich and reverent celebration of Feufollet’s Cajun accomplishment.

The Lafayette scene was bound to mingle, and the marriage of Cajun and indie music appears on The Color Sessions, a split EP on which Brass Bed performs tracks off of Feufollet’s Grammy-nominated En Couleurs and Feufollet performs tracks from Brass Bed’s Melt White. The album’s charm lies in the meeting of the genres—traditional Cajun pop songs covered by an indie rock band and contemporary rock songs interpreted by the playful and imaginative Cajun band. We had the chance to speak with Christiaan Mader, who covers bass, vocals and guitar for Brass Bed, and find out what goes on in the Lafayette music scene and all about The Color Sessions, which is streaming below.

CMJ: How did you guys come up with the idea to swap songs?
Christiaan Mader: Lafayette as a music scene is a pretty small town, so even though Feufollet comes from a different side of the tracks so to speak, they’re a Cajun band and they run in different circles, we’re all on the same page, we’ve lived in the same houses, we’ve been friends for a long time. One of the things we like to do around here, regardless if you’re in a Cajun band, is go out and watch Cajun music, get drunk and do stupid things and dance. So we’ve kind of been in contact with those guys for a long time. What ended up happening is that their bass player was in Brass Bed for a period of time, and our keyboard player plays keys in Feufollet, so all these interweavings caught up with us. We had a conversation that was like, “Hey wouldn’t it be neat if we covered a Cajun song?” and the logical reverse of that would have Feufollet cover our songs. The thing about a lot of Cajun bands is that these guys grew up playing it, but it’s not necessarily the only style of music they’re interested in. It seemed like a logical opportunity for either one of us to try something different.

What’s going on in the Lafayette music scene today?
Cajun music is derived from centuries of European folk music as it was imported to southern Louisiana from the French who got kicked out of Canada. Modern Cajun music is the marriage of that traditional Cajun folk music and country music of the 1950s. So if you were to go see a Cajun band, they don’t really look all that different from your average rock ‘n’ roll band. For example they have a drum player and a bass player, most of the time an electric guitar player, but they are going to have fiddles, accordions and stuff like that. But the chord progressions and the timing are not unlike what you would hear in country music. It’s not so much like current Nashville stuff, but similarities I hear are like what you get with early Hank Williams stuff.

Download “Bums On The Radio”:
Bums On The Radio by Riot Act

What was Brass Bed’s intention with its covers of Feufollet songs?
Our goal was to make it as un-Cajun as possible. You kind of run into a challenge when you turn Cajun songs into pop songs, which is that structurally, Cajun songs tend to be two-part, like verse and chorus, and then a lot of soloing because it’s dance music. Songs tend to be five to six minutes long, but they’re going to be rather repetitive, and if you were to widdle everything down, take the accordion solos out, take the guitar solos out, take the fiddle solos out, the song would end up being a minute and a half. It actually was a challenge for us because we had to say “OK, we’re taking this really simple chord progression and melody that’s really lovely and trying to change it into something else, but we’re not able to jam on it like Cajun artists are able to do.” So we ended up having to write new parts to their songs.

How did you decide which songs to cover? Is it a challenge to perform songs in French?
It was a challenge. We picked the songs we picked because you can hear them as great songs. When I listened to En Couleurs, they were songs that I gravitated towards already. Feufollet had a couple of rock ‘n’ roll songs that I think if you were to listen to the record you’d guess that’s what a rock ‘n’ roll band would cover, so we took the ones that are waltzes and two-step and saw what we can do. Then we figured out if we were going to sing it in English or French. It’s easier said than done to just translate something from French to English, especially in Cajun French, because it’s different than spoken French in France, so there are a lot of phrases that don’t really translate. I took the responsibility of singing it in French because I had the most background even though I am not by any means fluent, so Chris in Feufollet pretty much wrote it all down for me in phonetic English.

Download “Des Promesses”:
Des Promesses by Riot Act

What did you think of Feufollet’s covers of your songs?
They did a cover of “If I Were A Farmer,” and the first time I heard their version of it, I thought it was better than mine. It’s almost like they discovered an identity for the song that was more correct than mine. They knew it more than I did, and that was weird. I had the feeling that I was playing it wrong. I was like, “Wow, I never knew I’d written a country waltz song,” but there it is. In a lot of ways I think that was the song that tripped the entire project. Phillipe, the bass player for Feufollet, was the presenter of all of this, he was the one who wanted to do a Cajun waltz to that song. It’s like that trade right there is the most indicative of the project.

What have you learned about your songwriting and sound from covering another band’s music?
I think as a songwriter the big influence for me is sort of looking at the beautiful simplicity of the song and saying “Look how much you can get across with two parts of the song, two melodies.” Putting on a different skin for a minute makes you grow and learn new colors to work with. Brass Bed, at the end of the day, is a power pop/psychedelic band, but we do like to try and keep ourselves diversified in our musical interest, and clearly this was something that was a little bit further than anything that we’ve ever tried. The thing I learned from most is taking these songs and living inside of them for a minute. A great song doesn’t have to be more that a minute and a half long, and that’s what’s really impressive about the art form: You look at Cajun music and so much of it is steeped in Cajun tradition, you get so much out of it in so little.

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New Old Daft Punk Track To Be Released

Sasha Patpatia — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 14:49:52 +0000

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Scottish label Soma is releasing a retrospective album, due out September 19. Among the tracklist goodies is an unreleased Daft Punk song called “Drive.” According to the label, Soma employees found the song on an old tape labeled “Daft Drive” as they were sifting through 20 years’ worth of materials. The 1994 recording captures Daft Punk’s Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo in their early years, recording songs over spoken-word French cassettes.

Soma’s statement says that “The tape had originally been sent with ‘Rollin And Scratchin’ to be released as Soma25. But Soma asked these two bright-eyed and Techno-bound Frenchman, to finish and send ‘Da Funk’ to accompany ‘Rollin And Scratchin’ and ‘Drive’ was shelved for a later date.”

The track will now be the first on the upcoming compilation, which also features selections by Sam, Silicone Soul, the Black Dog, Funk D’Void and many others in the Soma family.

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Dream Theater Tours North America, Releases LP

Sasha Patpatia — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 18:30:00 +0000

American progressive metal band Dream Theater has announced its upcoming fall tour dates with Trivium, as well as its upcoming album, A Dramatic Turn Of Events, out September 13 on Roadrunner.

The album marks the debut of drummer Mike Mangini, and Roadrunner plans to issue multiple versions of the record. A special addition CD/DVD set will include The Spirit Carries On, a 60-minute movie documenting Dream Theater’s drummer auditions, a double LP set in gatefold jacket and a limited edition collector’s box set. Check below for tour dates.

Tour Dates For Dream Theater:
09/24 – San Francisco, CA – The Warfield *
09/25 – Los Angeles, CA – Nokia Theater *
09/27 – Seattle, WA – Showbox SODO *
09/28 – Vancouver, BC – Queen Elisabeth Theater *
10/03 – Royal Oak, MI – Royal Oak Music Theater
10/04 – Pittsburgh, PA – Amphitheate *
10/06 – Toronto, ON – Massey Hall *
10/07 – Montreal, QC – Place Des Arts *
10/08 – Quebec City, QC – Pavillon De La Jeunesse *
10/10 – Boston, MA – Orpheum Theatre *
10/11 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center *
10/12 – New York, NY – Beacon Theatre *
10/22 – Clearwater, FL – Ruth Eckerd Hall *
10/25 – Houston, TX – Verison Wireless Theater *
10/26 – Austin, TX – Bass Concert Hall *
* With Trivium

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“London Calling” Used As Ad Jingle For 2012 Olympics

Sasha Patpatia — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:17:10 +0000

The Clash’s famous 1979 single “London Calling” originally stood as the dark, edgy anthem for London’s punk music scene. But according to NPR Music, it will now stand for the rallying cry of the London 2012 Olympics, as organizers have chosen to use it in the Games’ ads.

It’s an odd fit for the song, in which Joe Strummer sings about problems of unemployment, radical conflict and drug abuse in Britain. But by focusing on the song’s opening line, “London calling to the faraway towns,” the Olympic Games’ organizers have made the song seem like an international call to unity. It’s probably best that the London 2012 committee disregarded the apocalyptic lyrics and themes of police violence and nuclear settings because they don’t exactly go with rhythmic gymnastics and badminton.

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Joker Shares His ‘Vision’ With 4AD

Sasha Patpatia — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 17:30:10 +0000

Photo by Mads Perch

Joker, the U.K.-based dubstep and grime artist, is set to release his debut album, The Vision, November 8 on 4AD, with the new “Here Come The Lights” single out September 27. The single will be released along with “My Trance Girl” on a double A-side 12″.

Stepping out on the scene at just 16 years old in 2007, the young producer was named 2009′s King Of Bass Music by XLR8R. He has spent much of his career churning out futuristic and electrifying dubstep singles, and contributed to two releases out via Hyperdub.

“Here Come The Lights,” below, features a vocal performance from Silas of Turboweekend coupled with the bass-heavy beats of Joker’s fingerprint dubstep sound.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFM33gheI8s

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