DOWNLOAD: Ceremony - "Hysteria" (MP3)

Ceremony at Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by BBG)

Ceremony have announced Zoo, the band's Matador debut due on March 6th. The John Goodmanson-produced LP features the song "Hysteria" which is also the subject of a forthcoming 7" with a cover of Urinals' "I'm A Bug" on the flip. Download "Hysteria" now above.

The band will also release a 7" of another single, "Adult", with a non-album track "Start Over" on the B-Side. Preorder the Adult 7", Zoo, and a tee at Matador now.

So far no tour dates to speak of, but look out for "a special NYC event coming in early February". Hawt.

"Zoo" cover art below...

Continue reading "Ceremony releasing 'Zoo' in March -- MP3 & a TBA NYC show"

The Men at Bowery Ballroom in November (more by BBG)

Matador Records is presenting the Singles Going Home Alone Subscription Series for 2012, where you will get

6 subscription only 7"es every other month in 2012, plus a special secret bonus item, a tote bag and 10% off all year long on the Matador Store (which cannot be combined with other discounts, email with code will arrive around time of the first single)

Speaking of The Men, they just announced a new album due out in March and a tour in support of it which includes SXSW and 285 Kent on March 7 with Nude Beach. They have since added another NYC show happening much sooner at Union Pool on January 13 with Pygmy Shrews, Organs, and Call of The Wild (ex-Awesome Color). All dates and Matador singles series list below...

Continue reading "Matador 2012 Singles Subscription Series on sale, includes L.A. Guns (seriously) & The Men (who are playing Union Pool)"

by BBG, Bill Pearis & friends

DOWNLOAD: The Young - Bird in the Bush (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Young - Sweet (MP3)

Austin reverb-drenched, garage punk four-piece The Young are in town this weekend and have managed to get themselves opening slots on some notable bills: Tonight (11/11) they open for Kurt Vile and Widowspeak at Webster Hall (tickets still on sale); then tomorrow afternoon (11/12, 3PM) they play with Pacific Northwest punk legends The Sonics at Maxwells (sold out); and then again Saturday night they're at Union Pool with Endless Boogie AND Call of The Wild (ex-Awesome Color). They also play Philadelphia on Sunday (10/13). All dates are at the bottom of this post.

The band has a single and an album on Mexican Summer under their belt and have recently signed with Matador Records. You can check out a couple MP3s above from their Mexican Summer output which have more than a whiff of sneery, late '70s power pop/new wave/punk to them. Their Matador debut is due out early 2012.

All tour dates, the tour flyer, a live video and another song too, below...

Continue reading "The Young are here, signed to Matador, playing four shows (with Kurt Vile, The Sonics, Endless Boogie)"

"Not to be dramatic but Chavez is kind of blowing me away. Also, brodeo up in Parkside." - gillianmae

"look, if you were not at the chavez show at parkside lounge last night, you were somewhere not good enough. and that's final. #chavez" - coolingpie

"Holy Cobra is Chavez really playing at Parkside Lounge right now?
Anybody there?" - Oksana Baiul

"Chavez show ruled. So glad I paid hundreds to fly to Vegas instead of $7 at Parkside Lounge #oppositeofthat" -uhhAnnie

Chavez @ Parkside Lounge, 9/29/2010 (photo by Jen Barzyk)

Thank you to the helpful people who pointed out that Chavez were playing a secret show at Parkside Lounge in NYC last night (9/29). It was a warm up for the (much more expensive) Matador 21 Festival happening in Las Vegas this weekend.

If you missed it, and you can't make it to Vegas, don't fret. The Vegas sets by Chavez, along with Pavement, Sonic Youth, Belle & Sebastian, Guided By Voices, Liz Phair and others will be streamed live (and on repeat) courtesy of MySpace Music at myspace.com/matador21.

The full stream schedule, Chavez's NYC setlist, and a few more pictures (thanks Jen and Quilty) including one of the setlist (which replaces parts of song names with "Marsh"), below...

Continue reading "Chavez played a warm-up gig in NYC (pics, video & setlist), Matador 21 streaming online this weekend (schedule)"

Dutch band Bettie Serveert was originally scheduled to kick off their US tour today (9/23) with a show in Cambridge, MA before scooting down to Hoboken to play Maxwell's Friday night followed by Southpaw on Saturday, but thats all off now due to visa issues. The NEW tour kickoff will happen on Tuesday (9/28) in Toronto and the Maxwell's date has moved to 11/3 (tickets are on sale and previous ones will be honored), the Milford, CT date moved to 11/4 (ditto), and the Southpaw date is cancelled.

The rescheduled dates happen at the end of their tour which also includes a show at Bowery Ballroom on 10/29 (a few days before the new Maxwell's date). Tickets are still on sale for the Manhattan show (and no opener is listed).

Bettie Serveert recently released their new LP Pharmacy of Love (dig on a pair of videos from that below), and are also part of a super-mega Matador at 21 boxset currently available for preorder:

On September 28, on the eve of the label's 21st anniversary celebration in Las Vegas, the Matador at 21 box set lands in stores. The limited-edition box contains five CDs documenting the history of the label with remastered songs released from 1989 through 2010, and one CD of unreleased live recordings from the Matador 10th Anniversary concerts in New York City in 1999. These were recorded to multitrack via the Rolling Stones Mobile Truck and not mixed down until now.

Full tracklisting for the box set, which features songs from Teenage Fanclub to Unsane to Fucked Up to Pavement and everyone in between, is below with all tour dates and stuff...

Continue reading "Bettie Serveert postpone start of tour, cancel Brooklyn show, appear on Matador 21 box set (tracklist, new dates & stuff) "

Martha's Vineyard Ferries

"Martha's Vineyard Ferries is a summer fun punk band, created by Elisha Wiesner (Kahoots), Bob Weston (Shellac, Volcano Suns, Mission of Burma), and Chris Brokaw (Come, Codeine, The New Year), when they got together for a few days in 2009. Their new EP, In The Pond, is a 4 song 12" with music on one side, and a sweet little etching by Rosemary Hoeft on the other. It is a very nice record.

Elisha describes their process thusly:

the band started as a fake joke band name bob and I were using with some vague intention of maybe playing some music. we asked Chris to be the drummer in the fake band. A while after that we decided to actually do it, sent demos back and forth and got together at bobs house in Chicago for a couple days of recording and eating hot dogs. Basically it's just 3 friends playing punk rock. all of us have larger musical commitments outside of the ferries but, for me at least, it was fun to just kind of come up with a silly idea see it turn into something really cool. I am certainly looking forward to playing some shows and future recording. It's fun to be in a band with no pressure, no expectations and no real time frame."

Sick Room Records is proud to be able to deliver this one of a kind, limited edition 12" for your listening pleasure" [Listen to a song at the band's Bandcamp page]

Speaking of Matador, their 21st anniversary festival is where Chris's band Come is reuniting to play, but not before they play a reunion show at TT the Bears in Cambridge, MA on September 26th with Wussy. Tickets are on sale.

Bob's band Shellac is playing ATP NY as part of a tour that hits the Bell House in Brooklyn (sold out).

Chris also has a European tour coming up with another one of his collaborators, Geoff Farina. Tour dates below...

Continue reading "Come playing Mass, Martha's Vineyard Ferries (Chris Brokaw, Bob Weston & Elisha Weisner) playing shows (NYC tonight) "

1.) What is the cost and how do the tickets / hotel rooms work?

The cost of the show starts at $199 for a three-night pass plus an additional $99 per night to stay at the Palms. You can have up to 4 people in one room and the option to purchase up to 4 tickets. After the initial swathe of tickets is sold out, the cost of the show goes up to $225 for a three night pass. You must buy hotel rooms with these tickets - sorry if that seems extreme, but it's how we were able to make this work economically with this lineup of bands in an intimate venue. We negotiated this rate for you and it's a good one. There will be all-night events going on at Palms, and the concept is for a familial event with label staff, artists and fans all mingling and staying at the same site.

VIP tickets are available for $399. These tickets (21+ only) will get you:

- Reserved Seating at the Pearl (AT THE FRONT)
- Access to Opening Party on Friday with open bar with staff and bands
- Priority access into afterparty shows
- Priority access into sky villa parties
- More TBA

For Las Vegas residents, there will be 100 tickets available for $199 at the two Zia Records locations in Las Vegas, for locals. These do not require purchase of hotel rooms. Tickets will be awarded via lottery at both locations, so please, don't attempt to camp out at either store early that morning or the night before.

In response to demand, we are also offering a limited number of a la carte passes for $250 for those who choose not to stay at the Palms. These will be available Friday, July 9th with a 2 ticket limit via the Ticketfly site only.

Once the a la carte passes and the local tickets at Zia are sold out, ALL TICKETS WILL REQUIRE THE PURCHASE OF A HOTEL ROOM.

2.) Will there be an installment plan to buy tickets?

Yes. Details will be available on the Ticketfly site. (The installment plan does not apply to the Zia tickets.)

3.) Can I purchase multiple hotel rooms at the time I purchase the tickets?

Yes.

4.) Can I purchase a ticket without a hotel room if I'm staying in someone else's room?

No. The only tickets without rooms are the Zia tickets and the limited $250 a la carte passes. Sorry, but that was the only way we could make this work. [FAQ for Matador at 21: The Lost Weekend]

In related news, and as you may have read yesterday in the comments...,

Continue reading "Guided by Voices will tour & other Lost Weekend questions"

"Tickets for "The Lost Weekend" aka Matador's 21st birthday celebrations at The Palms will go on sale this Friday morning at 9am, PST. Here's the details you've been hassling all of us about over the last week (and don't think we don't appreciate it)...

Continue reading "'Matador 21' adds a Come reunion show, posts ticket info "

Matador's 21st birthday fest will be happening in Las Vegas October 1st-3rd. For it, they've pulled the cream of the indie-rock crop. Previously speculated headliners Belle & Sebastian and Pavement will be there - on top of that, Guided By Voices will be reuniting to play, "in the band's "classic '93-'96 lineup!" The most recent show for GBV was New Year's Eve 2004/05.

In addition to those three, the lineup includes Sonic Youth, Spoon, Yo La Tengo, Cat Power, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, New Pornographers, Superchunk, Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Guitar Wolf (who also play NY), Chavez, Girls, Fucked Up, Harlem, Cold Cave, Shearwater, Kurt Vile and Jeffrey Joe Jenson. More will be annonuced July 5th.

A flyer is below...

Continue reading "Matador Fest lineup announced - Guided by Voices reunion! + Guitar Wolf, Belle & Sebastian, Pavement & many more"

DOWNLOAD: Teenage Fanclub - Baby Lee (MP3)

"Dogged adherents of the "if it ain't broke" philosophy of music, the Glaswegian quartet have been plying their own brand of harmony-laden guitar pop for two decades and little changes here. Pedestrian? Yes. Derivative? Certainly. But an alchemy exists within the band allowing them to find something newly life-affirming in the most well-worn elements of their Byrds-indebted sound. Current single "Baby Lee" might be twee but boasts a melody so sunny it could persuade grown men to skip down the street. And among this record's bittersweet pleasures, drowsy closer "Today Never Ends" is porch music of a timeless kind." [Guardian]

In July and August, Teenage Fanclub will play some European festivals. In December they play the Belle & Sebastian-curated "Bowlie 2" ATP in Minehead. Before that they join their fellow Scots for a show in Brooklyn (and maybe a TBA tour?).

As promised, Belle & Sebastian are coming. They play the Williamsburg Waterfront in Brooklyn on September 30th with Teenage Fanclub. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Anonymous pointed out that Matador is hosting their 21st anniversary festival in Las Vegas from October 1-3. That makes it seem very likely that Belle & Sebastian will play that too while they're visiting. Las Vegas Weekly reports...

...the host venue appears to be the Pearl at the Palms, according to a source with inside knowledge. And, yes, Pavement is set to headline, a figure close to the band has confirmed; the just-reunited '90s alt-luminaries play LA's Hollywood Bowl on Thursday, September 30, and will perform in Vegas that weekend... Oh, also on that Hollywood Bowl bill? The legendary Sonic Youth, whose latest album, 2009's The Eternal, was released by, ahem, Matador Records. Hmm...

Continue reading "Teenage Fanclub releasing an album (MP3), playing Williamsburg Waterfront WITH BELLE & SEBASTIAN (dates)"

Move over wolves, crystals, girls and bears. Caves are cool now. Following in the footsteps of cave granddaddies Cave-In (who recently reunited to cash in on the cave phenomenon) and Nick Cave, there seems to be a sudden influx of cave bands hitting the scene. Maybe it all really started back in 2007 when Pretty Girls Make Graves broke up and Derek Fudesco formed The Cave Singers (Pretty Girls Make Caves) who were almost immediately signed to Matador which two years later also became the home of Cold Cave. According to Wikipedia, Cold Cave have been a band since 2005, but the dark synthpop group with hardcore roots didn't actually release anything until 2008. Their Matador debut, which really made them a household indie rock name, came in 2009.

Earlier this year, the popular LA all-girl punk band Mika Miko broke up leaving prominent member JennifEr ClAVin without a musical home, but not for long. She quickly joined cave band Cold Cave, thus adding even more credibility to the cave scene. On April 29, 2010 (last night), Cold Cave played a headlining show at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC. How was it? They reportedly played for 35 minutes and it was their third NYC show in less than a week. The first was at Solar One, a free NYU Earth Day concert with HEALTH. The next was up at Barnard in a gym due to rain that forced it inside.

Continuing along with the partial inspiration or this post: Cave and Caves. This one was especially confusing me lately, in part due to the emails I get on behalf of both bands. I had to take a second and confirm in my mind that these were two different groups.

CAVE (I think it's all capital letters) is a psychedelic Chicago rock band with an impressive resume and a bunch of releases dating back to 2006. You may have caught them on their November tour. If not, don't fear, the band have a loaded show schedule this summer that includes the Pitchfork Festival, the Sled Island Festival in Canada, dates with Quintron and Miss Pussycat, and two NYC shows: August 14th at the Studio at Webster Hall and August 15th at Issue Project Room. A new 12" CAVE EP entitled Pure Moods will be released by Drag City in May (though the download seems to be available now). All tour dates below.

Caves (plural) started in San Francisco, but like the Morning Benders, now live in Brooklyn. Like Cave, they also fall into the psychedelic category. And though they are looking for a drummer, they actually have five local shows coming up including a record release party at Cameo tonight (4/30). Said the Gramophone has an MP3. You can listen to more at their SonicBids page. All dates below.

Caveman

Also tonight, 4/30, in the NYC-area: Caveman are opening for Here We Go Magic at Maxwell's. The four-part harmonizing Brooklyn band (who has opened for Here We Go Magic before) is the new project from Matty Pickles of The Subjects. Other members are Subjects guitarist Jimmy Carbonetti, Jeff Berrall of Elefant, Stefan Marolachakis from The End of the World, and Sam Hopkin. Maybe you caught Caveman at Cameo (or Caveo as some call it) on April 19th. Shannon did:

"I returned to the mystical back room just in time to hear Caveman self-deprecate and be casual and charming, then nonchalantly break into a pretty tight, polished set that would stop you in your tracks on Bedford Avenue if you heard it coming out of a record shop. I mean, check out the song "Decide," on Caveman's Myspace here. They have such a lovely, echoed lo-fi sound. I believe the band is somewhat newly formed. I gather this from something they mentioned in their stage banter and because I have their set list from that night in my purse, and more than one song began with "New Jam # ...," which I find incredibly endearing."

Finally, last but not least, I'll wrap things up with Cave Bears. They, like Cleveland's Clan of the Cave Bear, have successfully combined both caves and bears, but the mind-expanding experimental, and sometimes silly, Massachusetts band has a sound all their own (at least compared to anyone else in this post). No wonder they recently shared a bill (the same night Cavebear played Cameo) at Death By Audio with guitarist and Thurston Moore collaborator Bill Nace, the Thurston Moore approved Fat Worm Of Error, and Darren Mabee's band We are the Seahorses. Video of their wacky live show with everything else, below...

Continue reading "Caves are the new Bears (except for Cave Bear) "

Girls @ Bowery Ballroom in Nov (more by Vincent Cornelli)

San Francisco's Girls are currently on the road with their friends the Smith Westerns and Magic Kids, the many-membered pop group from Memphis who played NYC last July and whose debut LP, it was just announced, comes out later this year on True Panther Sounds (which is now part of Matador and also the label that put out the Girls record).

Girls will go on tour across North America this April with Sub Pop signees Dum Dum Girls. The trip finishes at Coachella, but before that, the bands will play a Saturday, April 3rd show at Webster Hall. Tickets on sale soon.

Before then, Dum Dum Girls have a February 21st show at Mercury Lounge with Frankie & The Outs, Sub Pop signees Happy Birthday and Coasting. Tickets are still on sale.

The Smith Westerns will also be in NYC in April - two shows were just announced. They'll play Market Hotel on April 3rd (the same night Girls are at Webster), and then Mercury Lounge with Sub Pop signees Male Bonding on April 4th (tickets on sale Friday at noon).

Dum Dums will be in the UK at the end of February and SXSW in March, where you can see Magic Kids as well. All tour dates and a video of Magic Kids at Goner Fest '09 and around town are below...

Continue reading "Girls touring w/ Dum Dum Girls & the Smith Westerns & True Panther signees Magic Kids - 2010 dates"

DOWNLOAD: Shearwater - Castaways (MP3)

Shearwater @ All Points West '09 (more by Chris La Putt)

Matador will be releasing the new album by Shearwater, The Golden Archipelago, on February 23rd. You can preorder that in a variety of packages, including The Golden Dossier version which comes as a loose file of ephemera and goodies. More info on both the album and its special edition are below. A song off the record, "Castaways," is posted above.

They'll be in Europe this February and early March before touring North America in March and April with Wye Oak and Hospital Ships (openers vary by date). One of those dates is a Bowery Ballroom show on Saturday, March 27th (with both of those openers). Tickets are now on AmEx presale. General sale starts Friday at noon.

As NPR pointed out, Hospital Ships "founder and sole member Jordan Geiger has a long, varied indie-rock resume, with stints as the trumpeter in Shearwater and the chief songwriter of Minus Story."

Shearwater drummer Thor Harris will also be keeping busy this year as a member of Swans.

More Shearwater album info and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Shearwater - new album, MP3 & 2010 Tour Dates w/ Wye Oak & Hospital Ships (Bowery Ballroom)"

After months of speculation (much of it in our own corridors), we can happily announce that Matador Records has purchased the True Panther Sounds label. TPS, best known to many of you as the imprint behind Girls' recent rise to prominence, will continue to be managed by label founder Dean Bein. What would possess Matador to become involved with another label in this capacity? As Victor Kiam once explained his decision to purchase the Remington Shaver operation, "I liked it so much, I bought the company." Needless to say, we like Dean, Girls, Glasser, Tanlines, Lemonade and Hunx & His Punx much more than than Mr. Kiam appreciated those razor blades.

At the moment, Girls' 'Album' is the only True Panther Sounds title to be worked through Matador's fearsome promotional & marketing machinery (ie. Hunx' recent 'Gay Singles' LP, was not). However, in the months to come, additional offerings from TPS' impressive roster (prior releases have included titles from The Fly Girlz, Ty Segall, Rainbow Bridge, The Standing Nudes amongst others) will receive similar treatment. Stay tuned! [Matador]

Girls were not here for CMJ when Matador and True Panther teamed up for a showcase at The Suffolk.

Tanlines' last NYC show was at the Guggenheim with Yeasayer.

photos by Tim Griffin

Cold Cave

"Cold Cave was one of the most hyped CMJ acts to hit New York last week. Their dark, almost industrial music went well with the extremely dark stage [at The Suffolk] and with their look- all black clothes and somber faces. I felt like a vampire or a bat in a cave. But I wasn't scared. Cold Cave's music is both slow and aggressive, moody and somehow poppy. While the crowd brooded I bet inside they were ecstatic. The music of Cold Cave is powerful and visceral. Maybe a little boring in a live setting, but something tells me that's the point. Enjoy the darkness." [Microphone Memory Emotion]

Continue reading "Cold Cave, Harlem, Tanlines, Glasser & Harlem @ The Suffolk (Matador CMJ show) in NYC - pics "

Califone

One of the CMJ shows I'll most regret missing tonight (10/23) is the "Evening with Califone: All My Friends Are Funeral Singers" It's "a multimedia event" at 92YTribeca. And actually, I don't think it's part of CMJ, and tickets are still on sale.

Yesterday (10/22) Ted Leo could be found enjoying a set by his tour-mates JEFF the Brotherhood at the BrooklynVegan party at Pianos. Tonight (10/23) is his set at the Matador CMJ showcase at The Suffolk. Flyer below.

JEFF the Brotherhood also play tonight, and then four more shows on Saturday,

Also playing that Matador party are Cold Cave who so far also played the Stereogum party at The Studio, canceled their appearance at Public Assembly for Vice, and were just added to the Pitchfork party happening at Market Hotel. Flyer below.

Also playing the Matador showcase are Harlem who play the Vice party tonight (10/23) and haven't cancelled so far that I know of.

Japandroids are back in town. Last night they gigged at Glasslands with Real Estate. Tonight they do it at The Bell House for the Polyvinyl showcase with Headlights and others. Flyer below.

Continue reading "Ted Leo, Califone, Cold Cave & Japandroids too (CMJ Friday)"

DOWNLOAD: The Very Best - Warm Heart of Africa (Violens remix) (MP3)

Ted Leo @ Pier 54 in July (more by Chris La Putt)

Ted Leo is one of many the acts lined up for the space at 107 Suffolk St (alternately called The Suffolk, Flamboyán Theater and Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center) during this year's CMJ Festival. The space, which also has a "beach" bar, isn't unaccustomed to shows - it hosted Ponytail in April - but around this time of year its usually set up as a haunted house (now housed elsewhere).

Ted Leo (now on Matador) will be headlining a True Panther/Matador Records showcase at the Suffolk on Friday, October 23rd. The impressive lineup for that night includes Glasser, Harlem, Cold Cave (who just played NYC with Faust) and Lemonade (who have many other CMJ shows, listed below). It's one of the official CMJ shows there (full schedule is below).

That gig is one of two shows set up by True Panther - on Saturday, October 24th they're also putting on a show at Pianos with Restless People (mems. of Professor Murder/Tanlines who debut five days earlier at Santos), Janka Nabay (backed by Javelin), Glasser (backed by Tanlines), Delorean and Lemonade. Flyer below.

Ted Leo also has some other upcoming dates scheduled including a post-CMJ headlining gig at Bowery Ballroom

The Suffolk is also playing host to unofficial, non-badge, first-come, first-served parties. AAM has one on Thursday, October 22nd (10pm) with Surfer Blood, Air Waves, Surf City, Violens (Very Vest remix MP3 reposted above), Lemonade and New York Night Train DJ Jonathan Toubin (who has his own showcase at Santos on Tuesday).

Finally, it should be noted that The Suffolk has a "back room" and that will also be hosting shows, including a Japanther performance on Wednesday, Oct. 21st (Fool's Gold is also on that bill).

Schedules and flyers for all of the above shows are below...

Continue reading "The Suffolk = Flamboyan Theater = CSV Cultural Center = ex-haunted house -- Ted Leo, others playing CMJ there"

Ted Leo @ Pier 54 (more by Chris La Putt)

Check out Ted's message below...

Continue reading "Ted Leo signs to Matador, JEFF the Brotherhood & Stupid Party opening the Bowery Ballroom show "

DOWNLOAD: Girls - Lust for Life (MP3)

Girls @ Cake Shop in June (more by Tim Griffin)

San Francisco's Girls (a band that's been discussed here quite a bit over the past couple months) have nearly three months of touring lined up in support of their album, Album, which comes out September 22nd on True Panther Sounds. True Panther is the home of Lemonade and Hunx and His Punx, and well as "a new label working within the Matador family". The first song off that record is posted above, and the whole thing is currently streaming at the label's website.

The band gets back from a Europe tour at end of October, and with only a little more than a week off, sets out across North America. The first date of that leg will be a November 2nd show at Maxwell's. Tickets are on sale.

A few days later, the band plays a November 6th show at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday, Sept. 16th at noon. General sale starts on Friday at the same time.

Album artwork, tracklist, the "Lust for Life" video, and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Girls - 2009 tour dates (Maxwell's, Bowery), new album on new Matador label True Panther (MP3, video, stream)"

DOWNLOAD: Cold Cave - The Laurels of Erotomania(MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cold Cave - Life Magazine (MP3)

Tonight (9/10) is Fashion's Night Out in the Bowery (one of many Fashion Week events happening in the city this week), which, aside from being a great chance to get a new pair of slacks, is your doorway to a free performance by Cold Cave at Rogan Store at 10pm. The flyer is posted below.

The recent Matador signees will put out their debut LP, Love Comes Close, on November 3rd. Two tracks from that are posted above.

The band's upcoming schedule includes two other NYC shows: they open for Faust at MHOW on October 1st, a show that's part of WFMU Fest at the venue.

They're also opening for Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. at Terminal 5 on November 21st.

Sonic Youth, labelmates with Cold Cave, were recently forced to reschedule their upcoming west coast tour (and cancel two shows) because Lee Renaldo fractured his wrist while playing tennis. "Tickets for the original dates will be honored. If necessary, refunds will be available at the point of purchase." New and upcoming dates are below...

Continue reading "Cold Cave (now on Matador) playing free show (tonight), WFMU show, opening for Sonic Youth (who canceled dates)"

sadness...

Matador Records co-owner Gerard Cosloy was the owner and resident of a nearly 100-year-old home on Lindell Avenue [in Austin] that burned to the ground early this morning.

Cosloy and another person escaped a fire this morning at the home near the intersection of South Congress Avenue and West Live Oak Street, said Austin fire Captain Andy Reardon.

Fire officials received the call about 3 a.m., Reardon said, and crews arrived to find the entire house on fire. Police had to alert the people inside the home that it was on fire, Reardon said. The 3,888-square-foot home, which is estimated to be a total loss, was evacuated safely.

The two-story house was built in 1911, and is located in the Bouldin Creek neighborhood.

Officials said the fire did about $500,000 worth of damage. The cause is still under investigation, officials said.

Cosloy sounded shaken but calm this morning. "There are a lot of people who have a lot less than I do who deal with a lot worse, but this is pretty bad," he said.

Cosloy worked out of his home." [Austin Statesman]

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"

photos by Bao Nguyen

DOWNLOAD: Mission of Burma - 1, 2, 3, Partyy! (MP3)

On October 6, Matador will be releasing Mission Of Burma's fourth studio LP, The Sound The Speed The Light. Recorded in Boston with Bob Weston at the controls, the record is a departure from the pinned-needles roar of 2006's The Obliterati. The new album sounds far more spacious and dynamic. It is more or less divided into 4 sets or suites of 3 songs. Each suite explores a set of moods or colors, across the usual dizzying array of lyrical topics, from alcoholism to fleshly concerns.

Before the album's release, Matador will be putting out a 7-inch single on August 18th with two bonus tracks, "Innermost" and "Here It Comes."

The band has been keeping track of the recording process on their website. On March 22nd, they wrote," And we decided against a couple of album titles: 'The Only Band the Mutters' was one which we, after much deliberation, decided was too obvious. What about 'Mr. Spock?' Uh..."

Album and single artwork, with the rest of the Pool Party pics, below...

Continue reading "Mission of Burma - new album, single, MP3 & Pool Party pics "

DOWNLOAD: Yo La Tengo - Periodically Double Or Triple (MP3)

We have an old saying at Matador HQ, "the only thing predictable about Yo La Tengo albums is their high level of excellence and crazy amount of musical ground covered". Trouble is, even if you believe we really have an old saying that unwieldly, it doesn't really do justice in this instance. The new Yo La Tengo CD/2XLP/digital album 'Popular Songs" (OLE 856-1,2) could be the bravest musical statement to date in a career full of 'em. Recorded in Hoboken and Nashville in early 2009 with longtime associate Roger Mountenot, 'Popular Songs' finds the trio of Georgia Hubley, Ira Kaplan and James McNew at the height of their creative powers, fashioning an epic work that's cooly confident as it is wildly adventurous.

"Our split 7" single is finished and on sale now, alone or as part of a five record subscription series from KIAM Records, featuring collaborations between Jennifer O'Connor and guest artists. We join Jennifer on the A side for "Little Airplane Heart," and we each contribute a song to the flip: "Mostly Air" from our forthcoming album, and "Watching You Go" from Jennifer.

The artists collaborating with Jennifer on the rest of the series are Dump, Jesse Sykes, Mascott, and the Hotel Lights." [Choo Choo La Rouge]

New Yo La Tengo song above. Some clips of YLT playing at last week's Primavera Sound Festival in Barcelona, below...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo releasing new album 'Popular Songs' (MP3), Dump (James McNew) playing NYC w/ Choo Choo La Rouge "

Kurt Vile @ Silent Barn (more by Jacob Blickenstaff)

Matador reported on Friday that, they are, "REALLY pleased to announce -- perhaps more than ever before in label history -- an addition to the label roster we currently consider to be one of the more important figures in American music circa 2009. Philadelphia guitarist/vocalist Kurt Vile first came to our attention (and possibly yours as well) with the release of the 2008 CD 'Constant Hitmaker' on the Gulcher imprint (a label whose paw prints extend to dusty genius recordings by the Gizmos and MX80-Sound and contemporary stuff from Home Blitz and Magik Markers). What the homemade 'Hitmaker' (recently reissued on vinyl by Woodsist) lacked in fidelity it more than made for in scope --- to dub the album "psych pop" barely scratches the surface of a work that's as impossibly catchy as it is wildly experimental... Subsequent exposure to Kurt's live shows in a variety of settings, both on his own and with crack ensemble The Violators, made it abundantly clear that we'd either have to sign this guy or find someone else who sounded exactly like him. Since the latter task proved impossible, here we are. Having signed a worldwide, multi-album pact with Matador, Kurt Vile's first full-length for the label, 'Childish Prodigy' will be released on LP/CD and digital formats in Autumn 2009."

Kurt Vile's next show is June 13th at the Shank in Brooklyn. The show is part of the Northside Festival. It's also his only upcoming show. A live video below...

Continue reading "Kurt Vile is now on Matador, playing The Shank"