After teasing us with lineup addictions day by day over the past few days, the full lineup of Austin City Limits 2012 is finally here. Check it out below....

Continue reading "Austin City Limits Festival -- 2012 lineup "

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Three or four chords, a handful of verses and a brazen guitar line are all Jason Pierce, a k a J. Spaceman, needs for songs that can heave along for a good 10 minutes without wearing out their welcome... While Mr. Pierce rasps out his vocals, the keyboards swell, backup singers deliver oohs and la-las, and guitars work themselves up toward scrabbling tremolo and feedback. Amid it all, Mr. Pierce presents himself as a disillusioned hedonist, a sufferer with himself to blame, a lost soul: alone in the vast turmoil of the music, mourning lost chances and wishing for more.

On albums like this year's Sweet Heart Sweet Light, the band's seventh in 20 years, Spiritualized deploys a large cast: strings, horns, singers, free-jazz saxophonists, all taking their place in the music's tidal crest and ebb. Onstage things were leaner, with a five-man band and two female backup singers. Yet the music grew just as colossal -- perhaps even more so, with fewer distracting details in the grand expanse. -[NY Times]

If you miss thje shows, look for streaming audio via NPR from Spiritualized's appearance at 9:30 Club in DC last night (5/10). Spiritualized also appeared on Letterman on May 7 (the same night as T5). Watch that, along with more pictures and the setlist from the NY show, below...

Continue reading "Spiritualized played Letterman & Terminal 5 with Nikki Lane (video, pics & setlist)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Nikki Lane - Sleep for You (MP3)

If you're heading to see Spiritualized on their current North American tour (like tonight's show at Terminal 5) you might want to get there early to check out Nashville's Nikki Lane. Her album Walk of Shame came out last fall on IAMSOUND records and is indebted to '60s classic country. (Wanda Jackson is a common comparison.) You can download "Sleep for You" from it at the top of this post and watch the video for it (and "Gone Gone Gone") below, or stream the whole album on Spotify.

Check out photos from the Nikki Lane and Spirtualized show in Chicago here. All Nikki Lane / Spiritualized tour dates and some videos are below.

Continue reading "Nikki Lane opening for Spiritualized on tour (dates & MP3)"