The Polyphonic Spree at BV-SXSW 2013 (more by Sarah Frankie Linder)

Progressive pop cult The Polyphonic Spree have a bunch of festival dates scheduled for this spring/summer and they'll also be touring around those fests, playing a number of club dates throughout the US. Those dates include NYC shows happening on July 9 at Music Hall of WIlliamsburg and July 10 at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for those shows go on sale Friday (5/3) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (5/1) at noon.

The Polyphonic Spree were also among the recent additions to this year's Bonnaroo lineup. Other additions include Solange, White Lung, Mac DeMarco, Black Prairie, Maps & Atlases, Royal Thunder, William Tyler, Cat Martino, On An On, Bilal and more. 4-Day passes for the festival are still available.

All Polyphonic Spree dates are listed, along with a full list of the Bonnaroo lineup additions and a video of the Polyphonic Spree covering Nirvana's "Lithium" at our BV-SXSW day party (one of our greatest moments at SXSW this year), below...

Continue reading "The Polyphonic Spree touring --- dates include 2 NYC shows & the recently-updated Bonnaroo lineup"

by Andrew Sacher

William Tyler, who has played guitar in Silver Jews and Lambchop, recently signed to Merge, and the label will release his new solo album, Impossible Truth, on March 19. The first single, "Cadillac Desert," is a shimmering cut of instrumental guitar with post-rock arpeggios meeting the twang of Americana slide. You can stream that song below. That's the album art above.

William will be supporting the new record with a tour that kicks off at Savannah Stopover, continues through Austin for SXSW and eventually hits NYC for an early show at Mercury Lounge on April 16. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

A list of all dates, song stream, album art and tracklist below...

Continue reading "Lambchop/Silver Jews guitarist William Tyler on Merge, touring"

SXSW is no doubt a great way to see a lot of bands in a short amount of time and can be a lot of fun. But it can also be a little much for some. If you'd like to see many of the same bands but in a more genteel setting, you might be interested in The Savannah Stopover which happens the weekend before SXSW (March 7 - 9) in at various clubs in Savannah, Georgia. Over 100 bands will play, including Of Montreal, Merchandise, Mac DeMarco, Chelsea Light Moving, Hunters, Braids, Delicate Steve, Turbo Fruits, Ducktails and loads more.

Tickets ($30 per day or $75 for three-day pass) are on sale now and more info is at Savannah Stopover's website. The full announced lineup is below.

Continue reading "of Montreal, Chelsea Light Moving, Merchandise, Mac DeMarco, & more playing Savannah Stopover before SXSW"

Reigning Sound

Merge Records have added two new artists to their roster: Memphis, TN's long-running garage greats Reigning Sound (previously on In the Red), and Lambchop guitarist William Tyler whose 2011 instrumental solo album, Behold the Spirit, was well-received (stream it at Spotify). Neither act have specific release news but look for albums from both in 2013.

Meanwhile both Tyler and Reigning Sound will be part of Merge Records' official CMJ showcase which will be at Mercury Lounge on October 18 with Telekenesis, Eleanor Friedberger, Mount Moriah and Superchunk frontman/label domo Mac McCaughan also on the bill. It's the first CMJ showcase Merge has had since 2008. Tickets go on sale Friday, September 21 at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (9/19) at noon.

The only artist on the Merge CMJ showcase that has any other upcoming tour dates listed is Telekinesis, though none in NYC. Those are listed below.

Continue reading "Reigning Sound and William Tyler sign to Merge, playing label's CMJ showcase w/ Telekinesis, Eleanor Friedberger and more"

The full list of artists confirmed for the 2012 CMJ Music Marathon so far is below...

Continue reading "CMJ 2012 initial lineup announced"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Dent May - Best Friend (MP3)

Dent May

Dent May's new album, Do Things, is out June 12 via Paw Tracks, and those expecting more of his magnificent ukulele may be in for a surprise. Having traded his signature instrument for synthesizers, drum machines and electric guitar, Do Things sounds like May has spent the time between albums listening to that Orange Juice box set and his baritone croon works well with his new, funkier sound. You can download the very OJ-ish single "Best Friend" at the top of this post and watch the video for it below.

Dent plays 285 Kent tonight (5/18), the last date of a short East Coast tour, and shares the bill with Family Portrait, The Babies, William Tyler and Ducktails on DJ duties. He then takes a month off before launching an extensive North American tour with Quintron and Miss Pussycat that will not hit the East Coast unfortunately. All Dent May tour dates are listed below.

While we're on Kent Ave, right next door at Glasslands tonight (5/18) is Big Troubles who have taken most of 2012 off. They play with The Hairs and Punks on Mars. Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

Punks on Mars are signed to Zoo Music, the label run by Dee Dee of Dum Dum Girls and Brandon of Crocodiles. They just released their new 7" EP, Hey Tiffany, and it's got a compressed early-'80s new wave feel to it. Fans of Cleaner from Venus, Chris Stamey-era dB's or even Ariel Pink might want to take a listen -- you can stream the whole thing at the bottom of this post.

That stream, along with the Dent May video, and a list of all dates below...

Continue reading "Dent May releasing new LP (MP3) playing 285 Kent tonight; Punks on Mars have a new EP, playing Glasslands tonight"

Megafaun at Bowery Ballroom in 2011 (more by Ryan Barkan)

Megafaun are heading out on an extensive international tour this year, starting with a European run in February and then coming to the US in March and April. The tour hits NYC on March 17 at Highline Ballroom with support from William Tyler, who also opens a few of the other US dates. Tickets go on sale Friday (1/13) at noon. All dates are listed below.

Megafaun's Phil Cook is one of the guests, along with Justin Vernon and Norah Jones on Kathleen Edwards' Vernon-produced full length, Voyageur, which comes out this Tuesday (1/17). You can stream the entire album on NPR.

Phil and his brother/bandmate Brad Cook were in a pre-Megafaun band together called Amateur Love. Their album, It's All Aquatic, is being reissued on Justin Vernon's new label, Chigliak Records, which is an imprint of Jagjaguwar. According to a post on the label's website, which has since been removed, Chigliak will release albums that were "never commercially released" or "locally released and never put on vinyl," in addition to new recordings. So far the label is set to release the Amateur Love album, and albums by Sarah Siskind and 12 Rods. Check out an Amateur Love video below.

All dates and video below...

Continue reading "Megafaun announce tour dates; Justin Vernon starts label; Kathleen Edwards streaming new LP"

The second annual Hopscotch Festival will go down in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina, across 12 different venues with over 135 bands, from September 8th through 10th. The lineup this year runs the gamut of independent music... from traditional indie staples (The Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Superchunk) to southern-inflected rock (Drive-By Truckers) to noise (Prurient) to hip hop (Beans) to garage (Jeff The Brotherhood) to funk (Budos Band) to metal (Krallice), and everywhere in between (Swans, Rhys Chatham, etc etc). Tickets are currently on sale. Full lineup is below.

Hopscotch happens almost three months after Guided By Voices play a Brooklyn Northside Festival show in McCarren Park (tickets) which is one day after Beirut plays a Northside Festival show on the same McCarren Park stage with... Sharon Van Etten (though she may have been accidentally announced at one point, they officially kept her placement on the bill under wraps until after Saturday's Music Hall of Williamsburg show). Tickets for Beirut/SVE are still on sale, and another opener will be added too.

Guided by Voices (whose Brooklyn show also has more openers coming) are also playing Pitchfork in July with Animal Collective whose Prospect Park show is now on AmEx presale.

Swans' upcoming NYC show is now on AmEx presale too.

Hopscotch lineup below...

Continue reading "Hopscotch Fest returns to Raleigh (2011 lineup announced), Sharon Van Etten officially added to Northside Fest"