Weary Engine Blues is the title of a forthcoming benefit album that pays tribute to Jason Molina who died last week. It will be released by Graveface Records and artists contributing Molina covers include Mark Kozelek, Will Oldham, Allo Darlin', Scout Niblett, John Vanderslice, Jeffrey Lewis, Damien Jurado, Jonathan Meiburg (Sheerwater), Hospital Ships, Wave Pictures, and more. The album will be out April 24 and proceeds will go to help medical and funeral costs for Molina's family. Preorder it here. It comes with a screen print by William Schaff which you can see below, along with a note from Schaff as well.

You can stream Kozelek's contribution, "It's Easier Now," below.

Continue reading "Mark Kozelek, Will Oldham, John Vanderslice, and more contributing to Jason Molina tribute album (stream a track)"

Frightened Rabbit @ T5, Nov. 2010 (more by Lionel Bergeron)

SXSW has just announced another round of bands for the 2013 edition of the annual music festival that will happen March 12 - 17. This brings the total current number of acts to around 1300. Someome of the highlights include Vampire Weekend, Frightened Rabbit, The Thermals, Black Lips, Camera Obscura, Merchandise, Bleached, Mr. Muthafuckin' eXquire, Eagles of Death Metal, Parenthetical Girls, Indians, Night Beds, IO Echo, KEN Mode, Prince Paul, Pure Bathing Culture, Sepalcure, UK motorik post-punks TOY, Finnish instrumentalists K-X-P, Toronto's Moon King, UK indie rockers Splashh (not Brooklyn Splash with one "h") and loads more. Head to BV Austin for the whole Round 3 list.

DOWNLOAD: Junk Culture - West Coast (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: HEALTH - Die Slow (Tobacco RMX) (MP3) (via)

Junk Culture, which is made up of electronic artist Deepak Mantena and his younger brother Nitin Mantena on drums, got in position on stage and music immediately started flowing from the speakers. Everyone started dancing as if they were commanded to do so. They opened with a song which doesn't require any real dancing effort because your body starts swaying and your head starts bopping involuntarily with the beat. While they played, random videos like crashing ocean waves and a kid slalom skateboarding flashed on a large screen behind them. The random videos continued through the show with no pattern or theme, and later Deepak told me the videos were just '50s and '60s propaganda he chopped and assembled in the same fashion as he does music. [The Reflector on Junk Culture live Oct. 2009]

Junk Culture is the lo-fi pop/hip-hop beats project of Illegal Art's Deepak Mantena, with his brother Nitin on drums (they also make sketch comedy videos as Celery TV, see below). They'll be coming to New York this weekend as part of their tour with psychy indie-pop Common Loon, the Champaign, IL duo of Matthew Campbell and Robert Hirschfeld. Both bands play Friday, July 9th at Coco 66 with k.Flay and Ava Luna, and the next night (7/10) at Union Hall with the Diggs.

Junk Culture's West Coast EP came out in 2009 on Illegal Art (home of Girl Talk), and he has a new record due in the fall. Common Loons's The Long Dream of Birds came out in April - check it out streaming on their Bandcamp.

Coming up, Junk Culture has a September tour with Tobacco who are giving away a free mix tape, and whose HEALTH remix from the new HEALTH remix LP, you can download above. Tobacco's Manic Meat came out in May which is also when The Hood Internet released a free mashup EP using some songs from it.

Tobacco's Anticon labelmates Why? are playing the debut 2010 Pool Party on July 11th.

HEALTH are playing Santos Party House this summer.

Girl Talk is playing Camp Bisco.

Junk Culture videos and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Illegal Art's Junk Culture touring w/ Common Loon & then Anticon's Tobacco - dates, MP3s, videos & stuff"

by BBG

If one stands back from the mayhem of life around them and will honestly realize what has been done on volume one of Low Level Owl, they will be floored. Here is a band who has, for the most part, orchestrated a symphonic masterpiece and glides effortlessly from one track into another. Odd for the average indie rock fan? Perhaps. Unapproachable? Hardly. Ambience and environment are the keys here. Through a number of experiments and hard work, the band has made a piece that is truly larger than what many people may be able to appreciate. -[Allmusic review of Low Level Owl Vol 1]

The Appleseed Cast will revisit their popular Low Level Owl 1 & 2 LPs by playing them in their entirety on a two-month US tour with Chicago's Dreamend. The tour kicks off in the tail end of February and ends in April with NYC getting April 17th at Gramercy Theater. Tickets for the NYC show are on sale.

The Appleseed Cast are preparing to release the 3LP vinyl of Low Level Owl Vol 1 and 2 via Graveface Records. Preorder it here.They'll also offer a new live LP while on the Low Level Owl tour. Their last full-length Sagarmatha was released in 2009.

Dreamend contains one Ryan Graveface, owner of the Graveface Records (TAC's vinyl label) and a member of Black Moth Super Rainbow.

All tour dates and the tour flyer are below...

Continue reading "The Appleseed Cast playing Low Level Owl Vol 1 & 2 on tour - 2010 dates w/ Dreamend"