by Andrew Sacher

Tim Fite at The Bell House in 2011 (more by Jason House)

Tim Fite is releasing his newest album, Ain't Ain't AIn't on March 6 via ANTI-. The album is the third in his Ain't Triology which also includes the previously released albums Gone Ain't Gone and Fair Ain't Fair. A making of video, which you can watch below, shows how the album was constructed from self-recorded samples.

"We Are All Teenagers," the first track to be revealed from the album, is making its premiere in this post and can be streamed below. The song goes through teenage experiences and feels like a pretty defining moment for an album which is centered on the idea that "no matter what age, we will always be teenagers."

Video, stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Tim Fite releasing "Ain't Ain't AIn't" (song premiere)"

Tinariwen will release a new album called Tassili on August 30 via Anti- Records (pictured above). The album was recorded entirely acoustic with contributions from Tunde Adebimpe & Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio, the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and Nels Cline of Wilco (who plays a show with Marc Ribot at LPR on June 15th).

Tinariwen will head out on a short North American tour in July which will hit the Winnipeg Folk Festival and the previously mentioned Highline Ballroom on July 20. Tickets are still on sale for that NYC show.

Tinariwen also play the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival on July 21 at the Trumansburg Fairgrounds in Trumansburg, NY (which runs from July 21-24). There they share a bill with Donna the Buffalo, Court Yard Hounds, Seun Kuti & Egypt 80, Balkan Beat Box, Sammy Kershaw, Thomas Mapfumo & the Blacks Unlimited, John Brown's Body, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Giant Panda Guerilla Dub Squad, and many others.

For Seun Kuti, the Trumansburg date is one day after he plays a free show at the Prospect Park Bandshell. Seun recently sent out an updated list of tour dates too, and a new video you can watch below.

Tinariwen collaborators TV on the Radio also recently expanded their upcoming tour dates, many of which are with Broken Social Scene who they play with at the Williamsburg Waterfront They also have a new video, as does BSS

The videos with all Seun & Tinariwen & TVOTR dates, below...

Continue reading "new Tinariwen LP & dates, Trumansburg Grassrooots Fest, Seun Kuti, Nels Cline, Marc Ribot & TV on the Radio too"

Booker T. Jones released The Road From Memphis earlier this month (5/10 via Anti-) with a notable list of guest artists. The Roots act as Jones' backing band on the album, and Matt Berninger of The National, Yim Yames of My Morning Jacket, Lou Reed, and Sharon Jones all provide guest vocals. The album is produced by Jones, Questlove, and Rob Schnapf (Beck, Elliot Smith), and was recorded by Gabriel Roth of Daptone Records.

Booker T plays The Bell House in Brooklyn tonight (5/24). The Bo-Keys, who were originally listed as an opener, no longer seem to be on the show though. The show is instead being opened by DJ Toddophonic Todd. Tickets are still on sale.

The Brooklyn show is one of his few this summer. All tour dates, a video, a Tiny Desk concert, the album tracklist and more, below....

Continue reading "Booker T. Jones released a guest-filled album on ANTI, plays Brooklyn tonight & other dates"

Felice Brothers at Spiegelworld in 2008 (more by Faith-Ann Young)

The Felice Brothers just finished up a tour in support of the recently released Celebration, Florida which started with two shows at Maxwell's in March and culminated in two sold out nights at The Bell House last week (some videos of that below). After a number of festivals this summer, including Clearwater Festival and Newport Folk Festival, The Felice Brothers return to New York to play Webster Hall on September 29. Tickets go on sale Thursday (5/26) at noon. The show is currently their last US date before heading out on a European tour in late November.

In related news, ex-Felice Brother Simone Felice's The Duke & the King have signed with Anti- Records, who will release their self titled LP on August 2. The album is made up of previously released material from the group's first two albums that were released in the UK but never officially in America. Check out the album art, tracklist, and a video below.

All tour dates, some videos, and other stuff below...

Continue reading "The Felice Brothers played the Bell House, add Webster Hall show +++ The Duke & the King signed to ANTI"

Yann at Irving Plaza in 2009 (more by Leia Jospe)

French artist Yann Tiersen, who is especially known for his well-received Amelie soundtrack, released his sixth album, Dust Lane, in October via ANTI- Records. Tiersen played the "Concert Hall" in NYC around the time of its release, and is now set to return for a larger tour that will have him back in NYC for two more shows. He plays Highline Ballroom on February 18th (tickets) and 19th (tickets). The full North American tour kicks off and ends in Los Angeles, stretching from the end of January until middle March, and it is promised that "the band will be bringing Dust Lane to life with synths, electric guitars, violins and drums in an energetic and powerful show."

All dates, some video, and the latest entries from Tiersen's video tour diary are below.

Continue reading "Yann Tiersen released 'Dust Lane', touring in 2011 (dates)"

DOWNLOAD: Lost in the Trees - Walk Around the Lake (MP3)

"Lost in the Trees is the music of Ari Picker, a songwriter from Chapel Hill on a bit of a mission: Take a pinch of the brilliance found in classical music and mix it with his own. Lost in the Trees is orchestral folk where the "orchestral" part isn't an afterthought. This is mighty potent stuff." [NPR]

Continue reading "Lost in the Trees - new LP on ANTI, in NYC now (videos, MP3)"

[On new record Li(f)e] Sage Francis' biting and sardonic wordplay now further empowered by talented musicians including producer Brian Deck (Modest Mouse, Iron and Wine) and Jim Becker and Tim Rutili of acclaimed Chicago outfit Califone. Francis has also enlisted a roster of uniquely talented songwriters including exGrandaddy frontman Jason Lytle, Chris Walla of Death Cab for Cutie, Tim Fite, members of Calexico, DeVotchKa, and Mark Linkous of Sparklehorse - each of whose compositions were then interpreted by Francis and the band. [Sage Francis news]

The album, with the Shepard Fairey cover art posted above, comes out May 11th on Anti-/Epitaph Records. All tour dates and videos (including one of Francis collaborator B. Dolan and Providence's What Cheer? Brigade street band performing a song off his new Fallen House, Sunken City live) are below...

Continue reading "Sage Francis - new Anti-album & 2010 tour dates"

DOWNLOAD: Roky Erickson & Okkervil River - Goodbye Sweet Dreams (MP3)

Roky Erickson's Will Sheff-produced, Okkervil River-backed first new album in 14 years, True Love Cast Out All Evil, is coming out April 20th on Anti. The disc is "comprised largely of unreleased songs that Austin, Texas native Erickson wrote throughout his decades-long career." The first track released from the album and cover art are posted above.

Roky Erickson has shows coming up in various places around the country. One of those is a Tuesday, May 25th at Webster Hall with Okkervil River (Will Sheff included) as his band. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday, February 24th at noon. General sale starts Friday (2/26) at noon.

Roky & Okkervil will also be playing their hometown of Austin during SXSW. Their official showcase takes place Thursday, March 18 at 12:30 AM La Zona Rosa. You can also catch them at the previously unannounced BrooklynVegan/M for Montreal SXSW day party at Galaxy Room (formerly Radio Room, formerly Bourbon Rocks) on Saturday, March 20th (noon-5:30pm) with Andrew WK (whose Q&A at Santos tonight is streaming) and others TBA. Unlike any other day BV day party so far in history, this one is "official" aka actually part of the SXSW schedule (though please note: SXSW CURRENTLY HAS IT LISTED AS FRIDAY, BUT IT IS SATURDAY). Still no badges necessary and 100% free, but part of SXSW (aka on their schedule).

Stay tuned for more exciting BV show lineup announcements. All Roky Erickson tour dates and a video of Roky and Will Sheff at Toy Joy in Austin, TX, are below...

Continue reading "Roky Erickson playing live shows backed by Okkervil River in NYC, at SXSW (at a BV day party) ++ MP3, album art, dates"

Dr. Dog's Brooklyn Bowl holiday show (more by Tim Griffin)

Dr. Dog will be putting out their new record (and their first on Anti-), Shame, Shame, on April 6th (cover art pictured). Rob Schnapf, whose past work includes Elliott Smith and Beck, helped produce the record. The band writes that once their Facebook page gets 20,000 friends (currently in the 7,000s and counting) they'll leak the first song from the album, "Shadow People."

Dr. Dog will be going out on an extensive winter/spring tour, which has extended its previous route quite a bit. Currently they play about two-weeks worth of shows in January/February, and then spend the entire months of April and May on the road. That second leg includes a run of shows with Deer Tick, including their joint Terminal 5 date announced a while back that happens on Saturday, May 15th. Tickets are still on sale.

Deer Tick have been spending the winter wrapping up their own new, third album for Partisan Records. No title yet, and the band reports that it'll be "released in the first half of this year." Their pre-Dr. Dog tour plans include SXSW (where DT frontman John McCauley is reportedly throwing a show of his own too).

All tour dates, a live performance of "La La La" (the first song off Deer Tick's new-ish digital EP, more info below) and a video from Dr. Dog's holiday show are below...

Continue reading "Dr. Dog & Deer Tick releasing albums & touring - 2010 dates"

photos by Tim Griffin

Dr. Dog has signed to Anti-Records (home of Os Mutantes), which will release the band's fifth record in early 2010. What does Dr. Dog guitarist-vocalist Scott McMicken have to say about that?

"Each album we've made was the best one we could have made at the time and I don't have any regrets," McMicken says. "But something has changed. We've never really recorded as a band before. We started as a recording project but over the years we've become a real band. We tour all the time and we have this certain place we fall into. And I think we're ready to use that as a reference point now"

Bethlehem Musikfest is a music festival that runs from July 31st to August 9th and consists of more than 300 performances, most of which are free (Dr. Dog on August 3rd included). Pay shows at the fest include a stop on the Pat Benatar/Blondie/The Donnas tour (which has a free Coney Island show on August 13th) and a show with the B-52s (also playing NYC) and Joan Jett & The Blackhearts.

Dr. Dog's last NYC show was also a free one. It took place at the Prospect Park Bandshell in Brooklyn. We already posted a set of pictures from it. Now here's another one, along with the full lineup for the Bethlehem Musikfest and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Dr. Dog sign to Anti, playing Bethlehem Musikfest (lineup) & other places - 2009 tour dates & more Prospect Park pics "

Richie Havens and Bettye LaVette (Photo: Kevin Kiley)

Richie Havens played a free, but wet show in Castle Clinton last night (7/23). Bettye LaVette (now labelmates with Alec Ounsworth) plays a free and hopefully-dry show tonight (7/24) at Central Park Summerstage (with the Budos Band). Her most recent release came out in June.

Having conquered the ghosts of a hard-luck past on her GRAMMY-nominated CD The Scene of the Crime, BETTYE LAVETTE shines a new light on that past with her latest, A CHANGE IS GONNA COME SESSIONS. The digital-only EP for Anti- Records, available exclusively through iTunes starting June 16, revisits BETTYE's forgotten post-Atlantic Records years as a nightclub singer, Broadway performer, and touring cast member opposite Cab Calloway in "Bubbling Brown Sugar."

The EP opens with a stirring solo version of Sam Cooke's posthumous Civil Rights anthem "A Change Is Gonna Come," a song which BETTYE sang with Jon Bon Jovi in January as part of the "We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial" concert.

Continue reading "Bettye LaVette - 2009 tour dates (Summerstage tonight) "

DOWNLOAD: Os Mutantes - Teclar (MP3)

What are their outfits made of?

Founding frontman Sergio Dias Baptista and his new incarnation of the near-mythical Os Mutantes have signed with ANTI- Records with plans to release Haih - their first record in 35 years - on September 8th.

2006 saw a reunion of sorts, with the band playing a handful of shows in London, New York, the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago, San Francisco and supporting the Flaming Lips at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, but it is the release of Haih in September that will mark the band's first recorded material since 1974 and their very first album to receive a worldwide release. Conceived by Sergio Dias with collaborations with other Brazilian legends Tom Ze (lyrics) and Jorge Ben (who wrote the song "Minha Menina"), Haih is a vibrant and timely return from one of world music's most important bands.

Os Mutantes are accompanying their new record with a series of upcoming tour dates. Those include a show at NYC's Webster Hall on Thursday, October 8th. Tickets are on sale now (at noon).

The trailer from an upcoming doc on the band, with Haih artwork and all currently known tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Os Mutantes - new album, MP3 & tour dates (Webster Hall)"

DOWNLOAD: Julian Plenti - Fun That We Have (MP3)

Since we just mentioned one new solo project from a band on hiatus (Julian from The Strokes), it'd be good to mention two other similar albums in the works.

In May, it was announced that Paul Banks of Interpol will be releasing a solo record called Julian Plenti is Skyscraper (Plenti being his own moniker) through Interpol's ex-label Matador on August 4th. Listen to "Fun That We Have," from the record, above.

This'll be the recording debut from "Julian Plenti," but the project itself is nothing new.

From 1998 to 2003, Julian Plenti performed in and around Manhattan as an acoustic solo artist. Venues that played host included Tobacco Road, Pete's Candy Store, The Knitting Factory, The Living Room, and "Lach's Antihoot" at Sidewalk Cafe.

In 2006 Plenti began to demo a selection of his music using Logic Pro, including some older acoustic songs ("Girl on the Sporting News," "On the Esplanade," "Fly as you Might," "Fun that We Have") with added beats and string arrangements.

In the Fall of 2008 Mr. Plenti took the demoed album to the Seaside Lounge in Brooklyn to be re-recorded with live instrumentation.

He hired session performers to play the string and horn arrangements, and also enlisted some friends. Mike Stroud of Ratatat and Charles Burst of The Occasion guest on "Skyscraper;" Sam Fogarino of Interpol plays drums on "Games For Days;" and Striker Manley of Stiff Jesus appears on "No Chance Survival" and "Fun That We Have."

And it was announced this week that another frontman-cum-solo-performer, Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (who we reported in January will be taking a break... possibly a very long one), will be releasing his debut, Mo Beauty, on October 20th on Anti- Records. That album was recorded at New Orleans' Piety St. recording studio...

For Mo Beauty, Ounsworth was backed by George Porter, Jr. on bass, Stanton Moore on drums, Robert Walter on keys, and Matt Sutton on baritone and pedal-steel guitars, with additional help from some members of the diversely talented New Orleans community such as Mark Mullins, Craig Klein, Greg Hicks, Washboard Chaz, Shannon Powell, John Boute, Al "Carnival Time" Johnson, and Meschiya Lake. The album was produced by veteran musician/producer and fellow Philadelphian Steve Berlin (Los Lobos, Blasters, John Lee Hooker, The Replacements).

Other CYHSY side-projects include Uninhabitable Mansions and Radical Dads. Interpol Sam drums in Magnetic Morning. None of these bands have any upcoming dates.

Tracklists for Mo Beauty and Skyscraper, with a YouTube video that purports to be the first 30 seconds or so of each Julian Plenti track, below...

Continue reading "Interpol's Paul Banks (Julian Plenti) & CYHSY's Alec Ounsworth are releasing solo albums too"

Kyp Malone (TVOTR/Rain Machine) @ Masonic Temple (more by Tim Griffin)

The debut album of Rain Machine, the solo project of TV on the Radio's Kyp Malone, will come out September 22nd on Anti- Records. As previously reported, the album will be "produced by Ian Brennan (Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Lucinda Williams, Jonathan Richman)." You can see the album art from the record, created by Malone himself, below.

TV on the Radio has a whole mess of performances scheduled this summer. Those include a ticketed Celebrate Brooklyn show at Prospect Park on August 11th with Gang Gang Dance opening.

Iran, another project Malone performs with (sometimes), has summer dates too. Those include a short set of dates in July, and a more extended trip opening for Fruit Bats in September. That tour hits Music Hall of Williamsburg on September 14th. Tickets for that are on sale. Before that there is a July 30th gig at Bowery Ballroom with Destroyer (solo). Tickets are on sale for that too.

Rain machine track-list, cover art and live video, and all Iran tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Rain Machine (TVotR Kyp Malone) - ANTI album art, live video"

DOWNLOAD: Fruit Bats - My Unusual Friend (new MP3)

Fruit Bats

Fruit Bats, the other project of Eric Johnson of The Shins, will be release its fourth album, The Ruminant Band, on August 4th on Sub Pop. In support of that record, the Fruit Bats will tour North America in August and September. The current set of dates are listed below and now on PRESALE. More dates will also be announced soon.

The tour includes a Brooklyn show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on Monday, September 14th. General sale for that show starts Wednesday, July 1st at noon. Openers for that show are Kevin Barker, and Iran, which is one of many bands Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio is a member of (though not always).

Speaking of Kyp, TV on the Radio is keeping him more than busy, AND it was just announced that ANTI will be releasing an album by his solo project Rain Machine!

Anti- Records, home to other musical visionaries such as Tom Waits, Neko Case and Nick Cave, is thrilled to announce the signing of Rain Machine, a startling new musical venture from Kyp Malone. "It's thrilling to hear this side of Kyp," says Anti- president Andy Kaulkin. "The songs are emotionally raw and passionate yet still experimental and full of surprises."...

...Produced by Ian Brennan (Ramblin Jack Elliott, Lucinda Williams, Jonathan Richman), Rain Machine's debut, set for release this fall, offers an enthralling mix of innovative song structure and sound entirely in service of Malone's emotive singing and evocative lyrics. Malone describes the Rain Machine sound as "a nearly full spectrum of frequencies audible to the human ear - a reflection of a variety of emotions and situations real and imagined, some rhythm and some rhyme."... [ANTI]

Continue reading "Fruit Bats - new album, MP3, tour dates (MHOW w/ Iran) ++ Kyp Malone releasing Rain Machine CD on ANTI"

Grandaddy frontman Jason Lytle is opening for Neko Case on the summer leg of her Middle Cyclone-supporting tour. Lytle also has his own headlining shows planned. Those include NYC shows on July 10th at Union Hall and July 11th at Bowery Ballroom. Union Hall tickets are on sale now; tickets for the Bowery show go on sale Thursday (today) at noon.

Lytle released his solo debut, Yours Truly, the Commuter, in April on Anti (also Case's label). He'll be on NPR's Talk of the Nation this afternoon (6/11).

The Decemberists, who played Radio City June 10th, will also be on NPR today. They're broadcasting live at 2pm from the Greene Space in Manhattan for WNYC's Soundcheck. Tickets to watch the show "sold out" yesterday in 10 minutes after Colin Meloy announced the show on the air, however, Greene Space writes, "Doors will open at 1:15 and will close at 1:45. Any ticket not claimed by 1:45 p.m. will be released to the public."

All tour dates for Jason Lytle and Neko Case (who's playing APW, Bonnaroo, Newport Folk Festival and more) below...

Continue reading "Jason Lytle (Grandaddy) tour dates (with & without Neko Case) ++ Decemberists at WNYC Greene Space today "

DOWNLOAD: Neko Case - People Got a Lot of Nerve (MP3)

Today, we are especially happy to bring you "People Got A Lotta Nerve," the first single from Neko Case's forthcoming album Middle Cyclone (out March 3), because for every blog that reposts the song and/or iLike user who adds it to their profile, Neko Case and ANTI- will make a cash donation to Best Friends Animal Society.

The promotion will run from January 13 to February 3, 2009. Five dollars will be donated for every blog post and one dollar for every user of iLike that adds the song to his/her profile.

Video for Neko's slightly older song, "Maybe Sparrow", below...

Continue reading "new Neko Case MP3 - download & post it for charity"

by Black Bubblegum

One Day As A Lion

"It's better to live one day as a lion, than a thousand years as a lamb."

Great quote, but possibly an even better band? Anti- Records has announced the signing of One Day As A Lion, the collaboration between Jon Theodore (on drums, ex-Mars Volta), Zack De La Rocha (Vocals/Keys! Rage Against The Machine) and their debut five song EP due out July 22nd! Here's another, well, interesting quote:

"One Day As A Lion is both a warning delivered and a promise kept. A defiant affirmation of the possibilities that exist in the space between kick and snare. It's a sonic reflection of the visceral tension between a picturesque fabricated cultural landscape, and the brutal socioeconomic realities it attempts to mask. One Day As A Lion is a recorded interaction between Zack de la Rocha and Jon Theodore from Los Angeles, California."

RATM are playing Lollapalooza with Radiohead, Wilco, Kanye West and others.

The Mars Volta play the Hammerstein in September. Tickets are still available.

ODAAL EP tracklist below...

Continue reading "One Day As A Lion = Zach De La Rocha + Jon Theodore"

photos by Leia Jospe

Islands 'Mess With Texas' @ Waterloo Park, Austin, TX-Mar 15, 2008

Islands have signed to Anti-Records, home to such luminaries as Tom Waits, Nick Cave and Neko Case. May 20th will see the release of the band's Arm's Way album.

"After more than a year in the frozen pipes, we are beside ourselves (three times) to be presenting what we believe to be our finest work yet, on the finest label we could think of. It's been a long time coming, and it'll be a long time before it's gone." -Nick Thorburn, Islands

"Islands' singular vision makes them enormously important in today's music scene and an amazing addition to the Anti roster. We are thrilled that they will be part of what we do." -Andy Kaulkin, Anti Records president

Continue reading "Islands (ANTI) 2008 Tour Dates, Mess With Texas pics/video"

DOWNLOAD: Billy Bragg - O Freedom (NEW MP3)

Billy Bragg & Kate Nash @ FILTER Courtyard, SXSW 2008 (jinners)

"Our friendship is based around an affinity for the Shangri-las," said Bragg as he strapped on Nash's guitar, suggesting that this was more than just a deft move by her people to insulate her from knee-jerk criticism ("Well if Billy Bragg thinks she's a bit of alright then maybe..."), while also placing her within a grand British tradition of songwriters like Ray Davies, Paul Weller and Bragg himself. The two traded lines like old friends, before launching into a three-song set of the Shangri-las' "Give Him A Great Big Kiss," Bragg's classic "New England" and Nash's "Foundations," a tell-off song that's everything "Dickhead" isn't: clever, introspective and fun. [Time Out]

Billy Bragg played a few shows while he was in Texas for SXSW, and then last night (March 16th) he opened for The Pogues at Roseland Ballroom in NYC.

Billy also has a new album coming out April 22nd on ANTI called "Mr. Love and Justice". The MP3 on the top of this post is from that album. Download that now. Then check out the videos of he and Kate below.......

Continue reading "Billy Bragg, Kate Nash, videos, new album & MP3, the Pogues"

DOWNLOAD: Bob Mould - Stupid Now (new MP3)

Bob Mould -- the Husker Du and Sugar pioneer -- is preparing the release of his seventh solo album, 'District Line.' After last year's dance floor-savvy Blowoff project with D.C. house head Richard Morel, Mould seems to be making a return to his roots of hook-driven guitar grooves. Written and recorded in D.C., Mould is again joined by Brendan Canty of Fugazi fame for percussive duties. The LP isn't due until February, but you can snag an MP3 of the lead single, 'The Silence Between Us,' on Spinner.

In March Bob is going on tour. Tickets are on sale for a March 13th show at Irving Plaza. All dates below...

Continue reading "Bob Mould - new album, MP3, 2008 Tour Dates"

I never go to a show on New Years Eve, but all the options this year might finally change that. The latest worthwhile choice: Gogol Bordello at Terminal 5. Then again, tickets are $45, and I'm not sure if that includes anything besides a performace by GB.

Not necessarily worthwhile, but Velvet Revolver is playing Hammerstein Ballroom that night too (we New Yorkers are more forgiving than Japan). Tickets are like $100! Gogol Bordello suddenly looks like a bargain.

And speaking of gypsies, Devotchka signed to ANTI. Their new album will be released in March 2008, and now they're label-mates with Man Man. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "GOGOL BORDELLO playing New Years, DEVOTCHKA sign to ANTI, VELVET REVOLVER, tour dates"