Alexandra Lawn @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011

Oh no!

While this is not a 'goodbye', the time has come for me to leave Ra Ra Riot.

Thank you for the wonderful 6 years-- so many beautiful places visited, with incredible fans & close friends made along the way. I will carry on what I have learned from each and every one of you in future endeavors, whether it be music, becoming a pilot, or the next Iron Chef.

Playing music with Rebecca, Milo, Wes, Mathieu, John, Kenny, Gabriel, and Cameron has provided some very special opportunities in my life, alongside all the talented and amazing bands that have shared the stage with us throughout. I have learned so much from all of you, and most importantly, you have have taught me to strive every day to be a better musician and songwriter.

much love,

Alexandra Lawn

Countdown to news of a solo record?

The pictures in this post are previousy unposted pictures from Fun Fun Fun Fest 2011 which took place in Austin in November not long before the band played Metro in Chicago (pics at the link). Chicago was the fourth-to-last date of the band's November tour. They've maybe played a few shows since then, but not many. More (of these pictures from one of Ali's last shows with the band) below...

Continue reading "Ali Lawn leaves Ra Ra Riot!"

by BBG

We were saddened to hear yesterday via Facebook that Bill declined publicly to participate in our current Black Sabbath plans...we have no choice but to continue recording without him although our door is always open... We are still in the UK with Tony. Writing and recording the new album and on a roll... See you at Download!!!

- Tony, Ozzy and Geezer

Burn! Well, that sucks.... in my estimation, Bill Ward is crucial to Black Sabbath. Stay tuned for more fun... they do say the "door is always open."

The above statement (in a Facebook post!) comes in response to the public statement that Bill Ward made about not wanting to sign their contract.

DOWNLOAD: Father John Misty & Phosphorescent - "I Would Love You" (MP3)

Father John Misty aka J. Tillman
with Fleet Foxes on an ACL Episode (more by Tim Griffin)

Farewell Fleet Fans and Friends. Back into the gaping maw of obscurity I go. Tokyo is my last show with the Foxes. Sorry if I was distant and obtuse if we ever met. Have fun.

The above message is a post that Fleet Foxes drummer Josh Tillman posted to his tumblr last month, announcing his departure from the band that he joined in 2008. He also tweeted, "@fleetfoxes, the best and last band that would ever have me."

Both before and during his time in Fleet Foxes, he had been recording solo material as J. Tillman. Since leaving Fleet Foxes, he's announced that he has signed to Sub Pop under the name Father John Misty and will release his first album under that moniker, Fear Fun, on the label on May 1. The album was recorded with Jonathan Wilson and was produced by Phil Ek, who also produced both Fleet Foxes albums, in addition to albums by The Shins, Band of Horses, and others. He's got a few west coast dates announced, which are listed below.

Our first taste of Father John Misty was a collaboration with fellow rural folkie Phosphorescent called "I Would Love You" (via Aquarium Drunkard). Grab an MP3 of that song at the top of this post. You can read the song's lyrics on the Father John Misty tumblr. He's since revealed a song from Fear Fun called "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings," which you can download via a widget below. You can also watch the video for it, which stars Aubrey Plaza of NBC's Parks and Recreation, at Entertainment Weekly.

All dates and widget below...

Continue reading "J. Tillman left Fleet Foxes, became 'Father John Misty', signed to Sub Pop (listen to two songs, 1 w/ Phosphorescent)"

Titus Andronicus @ Glasslands - 10/18/2011 (photo by Andrew St. Clair)

All you have to do is look at Titus Andronicus's Wikipedia page to see that the NJ band has gone though many lineup changes during their six years of existence. Ex-Titus members include Andrew Cedermark, Deer Tick's Ian O'Neil, and now sadly, Amy Klein. She writes:

A Message to Titus Andronicus' Friends and Fans

I just got back from my last tour with the band Titus Andronicus. Yes, it's true. As of today, I am no longer a member of the band.

No, there was no big fight or anything--no wild partying, drug, or alcohol addiction leading to me getting fired--no dramatic story--nothing like that. It is just time for me to move on.

I want to say an enormous thank you to every one of you for supporting me over the past two years, for cheering wildly at shows, for freaking the fuck out in insane circle pits, for singing along with every word, and for devoting yourself to this music and to this band with a passion that is downright inspiring. For me, the years I have spent in this band have been a time of transformation and self-discovery, and I know it is the power of music and the people who believe in it that have made me the person I am today.

I can't even explain what it is like to go from believing you are a total loser to believing that you are an individual with a voice. I think sooner or later everyone learns how to believe in herself, but the thing is, not everyone is lucky enough to get to do this in front of an audience filled with people like you.

To all the kids who came to a Titus Andronicus show over the past two years, I would like to say, "You are what punk is for. Punk is in you. Now go and do whatever you want with it." To every friend I met on the road, I would like to say, "Without you, I couldn't have done any of this." To the kind folks at XL, Beggars Group, Merok, Marcata Recording, 13 Artists, and Ground Control Touring--especially Sonya, Chris, Kris, Todd, Kevin, Nicole, and Chavez, I would like to say, "I appreciate all the work you've put into this band."

And most of all, to the guys in Titus Andronicus--Patrick, Dave, Eric, Julian, and, yes, Ian, who put up with me for the past two years, and who are truly some of the most dedicated and hardest working musicians out there, I would like to say, "I wish you the best of success. You are the great American rock and roll band of our time."

And to any girl out there who still believes that she will always be a loser, let me answer you with a quote from "No Future Part III:" "That's okay." I was one too. Trust me. You're gonna be someone someday. It's a crazy world we live in, one where even your biggest, loudest, wildest, rock'n'roll dreams can come true.

Titus Andronicus Forever,

Amy (no longer Andronicus)

P.S. I am not quitting music, just gonna be focusing on my own bands from now on.

Titus played their last NYC show with Amy during CMJ (pictured above). They play their first without her at Le Poisson Rouge in November.

Ian Love of EX-Rival Schools fame (more by Chris La Putt)

Rival Schools will be down one pivotal member when they embark on their tour this October with Hostage Calm...

We regret to announce that our good friend Ian Love has decided to part ways with Rival Schools. He is a tremendous talent who will be missed greatly and we wish him well in his future endeavors.

Meanwhile, the rest of us will be continuing Rival Schools a pace, gearing up for our October US tour which kicks off October 14th in Philadelphia at the First Unitarian Church. We're looking forward to the new music we're working on, new recordings and the next chapter for Rival Schools.

-Walter, Sammy & Cache

No replacement at the moment. They'll play as a three-piece on this tour that hits The Bell House on October 27th. Tickets are still available. All dates are listed with some videos below...

Continue reading "Ian Love leaves Rival Schools (they'll tour as a three piece)"

Ty Segall @ Death by Audio in 2010 (more by Andrew St. Clair)

Noisy San Francisco rockers Sic Alps, who will release a 4 song 7" via Drag City on August 23 ("Napa Asylum" came out on the label in January), have some upcoming shows this summer. However, Sic Alps are a little different this time around. First of all, they've added Drag City labelmate Ty Segall to the band. To be more specific though, Sic Alps is now Ty (who was actually a member of the band in the past briefly too), founding member Mike Donovan (formerly of the Ropers) and Eric Bauer. Founding member Matt Hartman and Noel Von Harmonson (both of whom are still listed on Wikipedia as of this post) are no longer in the band.

The new Sic Alps lineup will play a few North American shows later this month and a string of European dates in August and September. They'll play a Brooklyn show on June 24 at Death By Audio with Spectre Folk and Weekends, right beore they hit Wilco's Solid Sound Festival in MA.

After getting back from the European tour, Ty Segall goes on his own tour with Mikal Cronin, which hits Bowery Ballroom on September 29. Tickets are still available. Meanwhile Ty heads to Toronto for NXNE next week.

All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Sic Alps have a new lineup including Ty Segall (who is touring with & without them)"

Lower Dens @ Bowery Ballroom during CMJ (more by Amanda Hatfield)

John Hunter of Lower Dens aka Glory Girls have replaced Lower Dens on tonight's Mercury Lounge show because Lower Dens had to cancel due to losing a member. The band posted this message last week:

"Our guitarist, and sometimes drummer, Will Adams, has decided to leave the band, due to exhaustion. As a result we are very sorry to announce the cancellation of some of our upcoming shows. Will's gonna be sorely missed, and we're not sure yet exactly what that will mean for the future of our band, but there will be one."

Lower Dens vocalist and guitarist Jana Hunter (brother of John) followed that up with:

"To be clear, we're still working things out after Will's departure, but we are BY NO MEANS breaking up, and we still plan on playing all the other shows we have scheduled this summer and beyond, including Marfa, Austin, Houston, NYC, etc. See yall soon. - jh"

One of thsoe upcoming shows they're still playing is at the South Street Seaport this summer. Another is part of Hopscotch, and they'll be at NXNE too. Baltimore City Paper has more info in a new interview with Jana.

Tara Jane O'Neil was also listed on tonight's show, but now the openers are Quilt, Battle Circus and Marlon Rando.

Other Lower Dens dates and a video of Glory Girls playing Glasslands, below...

Continue reading "Will left Lower Dens who are replaced by Glory Girls at Mercury Lounge, but the band is not broken up"

Fans -
New personnel change: Dave Pajo is tagging out, folks.
Dave has decided to step out of the spotlight for a spell, and will no longer be touring with Interpol.
We're all friends. It's just an Out-of-the-hotel, Into-the-home sorta thing.
He's going to be missed to be sure. Aside from being an exceptional musician, Pajo is a wonderful person to be around.
He's sharp as a tack and funny as all get-out.
Anyway, if you saw us perform recently, I'm sure you'll agree - we were lucky to have him.
Dave wanted to speak to you personally, so please see below for a note from the man himself.

And now for the good news:
We have tapped our friend Brad Truax to perform bass duties effective immediately.
Brad is the man. His musical resume includes work with a horde of awesome bands: Home, Soldiers of Fortune, Gang Gang Dance,
The Broke Revue, Animal Collective, Cass McCombs, White Magic...
He's got taste and he's got chops. And that's what we want.

Our next gig, and our first with Truax, will be in Hamburg on March 3rd. So hop on over to Germany and come down say hi.
We look forward to seeing every last one of you in the coming months.
Thanks.
- Interpol
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I would like to announce that I will no longer be performing live with Interpol on their upcoming campaign. I'll be taking a break from touring to focus on family. There are no personal, artistic or health reasons--it's really as simple as that!
I would like to thank Paul, Daniel, Sam, Brandon, everyone in the crew, and all of the Interpol fans for the remarkable support and patronage they have shown me during my time with them. I feel a tremendous amount of love and respect for everyone involved and will genuinely miss them.
I will continue to record and perform music, with bands as well as solo, I just won't be touring as much.
I am truly grateful for the experience and look forward to enjoying Interpol in the future, as a fan and friend.
Walk in light, walk in darkness.
DP
February 20, 2011"

--

Titus Andronicus @ 285 Kent - New Years Eve (pic by DoubleBen)

"Hello friends. Happy New Year to all. I hope that it is a healthy and prosperous one for you all, thus far. We were fortunate enough to ring in our new year on a positive note with all of our old Jersey buddies this past Friday night - thanks to all of you who came out to that show, and our sincerest apologies to those who had their belongings tampered with or carried off by unseen malefactors. There is some lesson here about personal responsibility and looking after the good of the community, but I will leave it to you to decode - smart kids like you shouldn't have too much trouble.

If you were at the show, you also maybe heard me saying something about how it was our dearly beloved bassist Ian Graetzer's last show with the band. Well, the reason that I said that was that it was true - Ian isn't in the band anymore. Shocking, I know, considering that Ian has been in the band since the very beginning (in fact, he and I were the two guys who decided to form the group) and been present for every glorious victory, every bitter defeat, and all the innumerable, interminable hours in between. Not anymore, gang.

"What is the deal?" you may be asking, "Do you guys, like, hate each other now or something?" No, we don't hate each other. In fact, the months since Ian announced his departure plans (yes, the months!) have been some of the happiest and friendliest in all of our organization's history..." [Patrick Stickles]

As already discussed, Titus Andronicus played a sold out New Years Eve show at 285 Kent in Brooklyn. That's a picture of the festivities above. Was your stuff stolen?

UPDATE: Or did you just leave it behind?

Titus's next NYC show will also definitely sell out. That's because it's taking place at Mercury Lounge. Tickets for the February 10th Willie Mae Rock Camp For Girls benefit are on sale. No word on who will be playing bass. All Titus dates below...

Continue reading "Titus Andronicus played NYE (they lost their bassist, people lost stuff), playing Mercury Lounge (tix on sale)"

by BBG

Trivett Wingo now EX-The Sword (photo by Sandy Carson)

"We wish Trivett nothing but the best, and it is with heavy hearts that we bid him farewell. He is a phenomenal musician and has been an integral part of this band's success. He helped to lay the foundation that we will continue to build upon, and we wouldn't be where we are without him. We wish he could continue the adventure with us, but we understand that the life of a touring musician is not for everyone. It's been a hell of a ride, and we're sad to see this part of the journey end. The show must go on, though, and will be back on the road as soon as humanly possible." - JD, Kyle & Bryan of The Sword

Drummer Trivett Wingo has left The Sword, and the amicable split has forced the band to cancel all current dates while they search for a suitable replacement. These dates include Saturday's show at Webster Hall along with a ton of others that last well into the new year and span the globe. The band says they will reschedule the dates. A statement from Trivett is below.

The Sword won't be in NYC on 10/16, so all the more reason to check out the return of The Gates of Slumber along with Hour of 13 (who will be making their US debut) and the incredible Disma at Union Pool that night instead (a BrooklynVegan/1000Knives production). The $10 show starts at 9PM, so get there!

A week after that (on 10/23), Union Pool will host the BV-BBG CMJ showcase with The Body, Cough, Inter Arma, and Royal Thunder. $5 gets you in, and the first 50 people in the door get a FREE set of earplugs courtesy of Earpeace (a $15 value). And trust me, you're gonna f'n need them.

Full statement from Trivett Wingo, as well as all cancelled tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Trivett leaves the Sword, all tour dates cancelled"

We previously speculated that Battles canceled their October 26th show at LPR to finish work on their new album. It turns out, they are still finishing the album, but without member Tyondai Braxton, who has left the band to work on his own music. As Pitchfork points out, Battles will now "be a very different band" since he "was the closest thing the egalitarian unit had to a frontman." The October show in London has also been canceled.

The full note from their label Warp on the news is below...

Continue reading "Tyondai Braxton leaves Battles"

Interpol, who recently released a new song from their new record, have announced that Carlos D has left the band. Their letter and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Carlos D leaves Interpol (who have some shows coming up)"

Dear Fans and friends,

I've been meaning to catch you up on what' s been going on in Rapture world. First off, I'm sad to say that at the begining of April our buddy Mattie Safer decided to leave the band. We are sad to see him go but it seems it is the best for all of us. Since then Luke, Vito and I have been on a creative tear. We've been working out of our little Brooklyn make shift studio, writing, demoing and jamming. I'm pretty damn excited to share the fruits of our labor with you. But its still gonna be a minute before we hit the studio for real. On the other hand, I am very pleased to announce that the people of the great continent of Australia will be some of the first to hear some of our new material live, when we arrive late September for Parklife festival. In the meantime, keep an eye on this blog and another on your neighborhood dance party, who knows maybe we'll be spinnin'.

Lotsa Love,
The Rapture

That message, which we previously posted, was originally blogged by the Rapture on July 14th. The Australian dates they reference kick-off on September 26th, but those down under won't be the first people to hear the new material live. That honor goes to NJ (and Baltimore). The show is September 11th at the Stone Pony. Golden Filter opens. Tickets are on sale. All dates below...

Continue reading "The Rapture (minus Mattie) announce some shows (dates)"