Built to Spill at BV SXSW 2012 (more by Ryan Barkan)

The Hopscotch festival in Raleigh, North Carolina will celebrate its third year from Sept. 6-8, 2012 in downtown Raleigh, with 175 bands in 15 venues. The initial lineup, released today, runs the gamut from traditional indie favorites to punk to noise music to hip hop to noisy black metal and all stops in between, featuring performances from Built to Spill, sunn 0))), The Roots, The Jesus & Mary Chain (who played SXSW), Liars (who have a show coming up at Webster Hall), Baroness, Deerhoof, Death Grips (who play NYC soon and have new material on the way), Danny Brown (who was at Coachella and plays Prospect Park soon), Pallbearer (who play an exclusive East Coast Show soon), Screaming Females (who recently played NYC and are on tour now), Thee Oh Sees, The Spits (who just played NYC twice), Tenement, The Mountain Goats (two sets, one of which will be an all metal-covers set!) and so many more.

(and now we know the Jesus & Mary Chain are coming back soon)

Tickets are on sale. The full lineup and flyer (update: and a few more announced J&MC dates) are below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch lineup announced; Jesus & Mary Chain will be in NC in September; John Darnielle to do metal covers set "

by Andrew Sacher

Young Magic at Mercury Lounge in 2011 (more by Jessica Amaya)

Young Magic released their debut album, Melt, last week (2/14) via Carpark and played a release show in NYC at Mercury Lounge this past Saturday (2/18). How was that show?

Melt, which you can stream in its entirety on bandcamp, is a fairly solid debut. Think Yeasayer's percussive psych pop and The Weeknd's hipster approved R&B drowned in tons of reverb, and you've pretty much got the idea. There's not too much diversity from song to song but it's an enjoyable listen for sure and worth checking out.

Young Magic has more upcoming dates this March, including hooking up with Korallreven for a few dates on their tour which hits Bowery Ballroom on March 4. Lemonade is also on that show and tickets are still available. Then they'll join Bear in Heaven for a few dates on their tour with Doldrums and Blouse (none in NYC). They will return to NYC after that run to play Cameo on April 6 with Co La and SoftSpot. Tickets for that Brooklyn show are on sale now.

All dates below...

Continue reading "Young Magic opening for Korallreven, playing Cameo (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

Earlier this year, Matthew Papich of the duo Ecstatic Sunshine (with Dustin Wong of Ponytail who recently broke up) began recording solo material under the moniker Co La. After a few cassette releases, he put out his first full length vinyl, Daydream Repeater this month via NNA Tapes. You can purchase the album at the NNA Tapes webstore and stream the entire thing below.

For the Daydream Repeater, Matthew creates a wide palette of sounds that don't share too much common ground, but somehow come together to form a complete work. The album opens with three tracks of fairly noisy loops, but then takes a complete turn for the album's middle section which revolves around overtly poppy melodies. "Smooth Solidarity" begins a venture into classic dub territory, and with album closer "Siamese in Greece," Matthew ends everything the way he started it, with more of a rhythmic focus than a melodic one.

Co La has a few shows coming up, including two in his hometown of Baltimore, and one in NYC opening for Lee Ranaldo at Glasslands on December 16. Tickets for that show are still available.

All dates and album stream below...

Continue reading "Co La streaming new LP, playing shows, one w/ Lee Ranaldo"

DOWNLOAD: James Pants - "Alone" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: James Pants - "Darlin'" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tyler, the Creator - "Seven" (James Pants Remix) (MP3)

Spokane, WA producer James Pants is kicking off a short NYC & California tour TONIGHT (8/16) at Glasslands. The Brooklyn show is with Psychobuildings, Airbird (aka Joel Ford of Ford & Lopatin), Balloon, and an after-party with Co La. Tickets for tonight's show are available. The tour then hits up California for a few shows before returning to NYC on August 23 for an in-store at Other Music at 8 PM and August 29 for a live set on WFMU on Liz Berg's show from 9 AM to noon.

James released his self titled LP earlier this year via Stones Throw. Grab two MP3s from that above and check out the new Iasos-directed video for "Clouds Over the Pacific" below.

Also above you can download a remix James did for "Seven" off Tyler, the Creator's Bastard LP. Tyler loves James's music and James seems to be into Tyler's as well.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "James Pants playing shows (dates, MP3s & a new video)"