by BBG

If you only went by the lead song "Horizon" or the video for "Dark Passage", you might get the sense that The Drift tread in similar pounding kraut-rock-y waters as labelmates Maserati. But in the wake of the passing of member Jeff Jacobs, the mood is (save for previously cited examples) very pensive on Blue Hour, The Drift's new LP due via Temporary Residence Limited on 10/4.

As many of you may know, our dear friend and long-time collaborator Jeff Jacobs (trumpet, flugel horn, fx) has departed us, having succumbed early this year to a long and very courageous battle with cancer. He was and remains to be an integral force in the bands development. The amount of passion and energy he gave to music and to the life of this band was paramount. We will miss him beyond what words can express. His light will no-doubt continue to shine on. The recording's we made are in dedication to him, his radiance as an artist, and to the testament of music. May you rest in peace dear friend. Please visit this lovely memorial site his sister Erika Jacobs put together in his honor. His life is to be celebrated.

Explosions in the Sky are meanwhile playing Wellmont Theater in NJ with the Antlers TONIGHT (10/3).

Continue reading "The Drift releasing 'Blue Hour' on Temporary Residence (exclusive stream), touring Europe w/ EITS (dates)"

The For Carnation are a post-rock band from Louisville, Kentucky who formed in 1994. The band was formed by Brian McMahan, who is the only constant group member. McMahan's previous band Slint hinted at the distinctive sound and sombre aesthetic he would create in the For Carnation. To date they have released an EP and two albums: Fight Songs (Matador Records, 1995), Marshmallows (Matador, 1996), and The For Carnation (Touch and Go Records, 2000). Fight Songs and Marshmallows were compiled into one record, Promised Works, and released by Runt in 1997. Promised Works was re-released by Touch and Go Records in 2007. The band has included Doug McCombs and Johnny "Machine" Herndon of Tortoise, Todd Cook (Shipping News) as well as Britt Walford and David Pajo of Slint.

by Black Bubblegum

Caspian

Quiet. Crescendo. Shimmering guitar. Crunch and thunder. Decrescendo. Sounds like a simple formula for a post-rock band, but you'd be surprised at how many get it wrong. Caspian, a Massachusetts post-rock crew, knows that "epic" doesnt have to mean an album of five 16+ minute songs, and the crew have the melodies to prove it. The band recently dropped their new album Tertia on The Mylene Sheath, and are currently offering that long-player for FREE download here.

Caspian is currently touring North America and will hit The Studio @ Webster Hall on Aug 28th (FRIDAY) before jetting to Europe for an extremely ambitious set of dates. Both Arms & Sleepers and The American Dollar will get credit for the assist at The Studio, (tix for that shindig here).

All tour dates and a teaser video for the LP are below....

Continue reading "Caspian giving away album ++ 2009 Tour Dates (NYC Friday)"

photos by Paul Birman, words by Klaus Kinski & Black Bubblegum

Aaron Turner of Isis

Isis, assisted by Chi-town's Pelican and local heroes Tombs, hit up Irving Plaza on June 2nd as part of a larger tour for the ex-Boston, now-LA band. The Irving Plaza show marks the home stretch for Pelican and Tombs who have basically been on tour since March, having hit up SXSW and joined forces with Wolves In The Throne Room (who recently played NYC).

Klaus Kinski was at the show Tuesday night, he writes...

Continue reading "Isis, Pelican & Tombs @ Irving Plaza in NYC - pics "

by Black Bubblegum

Red Sparowes with touring guitarist Brendan Tobin (Made Out of Babies)

Red Sparowes have announced a new axe-wielder to their ranks, replacing the departed Josh Graham. The band comments:

I think it's safe to announce our new guitar player is Emma Ruth Rundle. She's an unbelievable guitar prodigy. A better guitarist than any of us. And, she works building and repairing guitars. Pretty awesome.

Red Sparowes next release isn't that LP follow up to Every Heart... though, it's the Toshi Kasai co-produced (with the band) Aphorisms DVD+12" which is due this fall. That EP along with the entire Red Sparowes catalog is now available for download as "pay what you want" (over $2.50 that is) from the band. Check that out here.

Some videos below...

Continue reading "Red Sparowes get new guitarist, playing Fun Fun Fun Fest"

by Black Bubblegum

Genghis Tron Live at Europa, 3/27/09 (more by Justina Villanueva)

Pelican and Tombs have been added to select dates of the previously mentioned Isis tour including the currently on sale show at Irving Plaza on June 2nd. Updated tour dates are below.

Tombs also has two other dates on their calendar: April 19th with the mighty Bison BC in Danbury CT and April 12th (Easter) with Wetnurse, Black Anvil and Genghis Tron for Show No Mercy at Public Assembly. Want to go to the Brooklyn one? I have 2 pairs of tickets up for grabs. Details on how to win below.

After defiling Easter Sunday, Genghis Tron will head to Coachella. From their they head home to dedicate the rest of the year to writing and recording the follow-up to Board Up The House. Public Assembly may be their last show for a long time, so if you didn't catch them (and possibly almost get killed) when they played Europa with Converge and Coliseum, don't miss this.

Isis have a new album on the way, Wavering Radiant. Look for it on May 15th.

Pelican recently played SXSW and recorded their debut EP for Southern Lord.

Mike Hill (of Tombs) and Isis have a history together; Hill produced songs on Isis's The Red Sea EP. Before the release of Tombs' mammoth Winter Hours, we interviewed Mike Hill. Tombs recently played SXSW, check out a video of that below.

Black Anvil, who recently dropped Time Insults The Mind on LP, have a few other dates lined up including April 10th in Bethpage, NY.

Bison BC will also be in the hood soon... taking on Children at Death By Audio on April 18th.

More videos and all tour dates below....

Continue reading "Tombs touring w/ Pelican & Isis, playing PA w/ Genghis Tron "

photos by Jacob Blickenstaff

"For the entirety of SXSW I was really only holding my breath for one band, namely Explosions In The Sky (EITS). Now I'm sure there were other great bands at SXSW this year - there were after all 1400 bands or so playing - but of all the bands I knew, they were at the top of my list to see.

EITS played at the river shores at night, where the band was framed against the brightly lit skyline of the lonstar's capitol - the setting, truly, couldn't have been more grand. When the guys took the stage you could tell that they were totally overwhelmed by how many people had come out to see them in their own hometown of Austin. The crowd must have easily numbered in the thousands, and it seemed pretty obvious that this was going to be one of the biggest and most memorable shows of their career.

The show itself was beautifully performed, but one thing just about killed it for me: the sound!...

....Finally, though, one thing made it all right again: fireworks. During their soaring last song, fireworks explode all over the night-time sky. Obvious, perhaps... but undeniably perfect and beautiful. So, a great ending, right?

Almost. Unfortunately, the crowd goes nuts and yells for encores like crazy, but the fireworks just keep going and going and going with no EITS to be seen. The firework spectacle is now beginning to turn somewhat comically meandering. A guy behind me tells his friend "just like the music... a lot of false finales." The crowd, however, doesn't budge and you can still hear shouts for more songs ten minutes after they played their final chord.

Finally, the guitarist walks back on stage, you hear the familiar hum of a cable being moved around inside the socket of a guitar, and everyone cheers, for we interpret this as the sound of him plugging his guitar back in to play us one final song.

It was the sound of him unplugging it... " [The Enright House]

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky - SXSW pics, updated tour dates "

DOWNLOAD: Explosions in the Sky - Welcome, Ghosts (MP3)

Hi Everyone,

We just wanted to send out a message letting you know we have a couple of shows coming up. One is on March 21st, here in Austin, TX. The show is part of the annual South By Southwest festival/conference thing. But we want to make it clear that admission to our show is free. No tickets, no wristbands, no special badges, nothing of the sort. We're also part of the Sasquatch Festival in Gorge, WA on May 25th. We'll be playing alongside an absurd amount of great bands.

There will be a few more shows scattered here and there throughout 2009. We'll have more information about those in a month or two.

Now more shameless commerce....we added a bunch of new t-shirts to our little internet store in early December and most of the sizes sold out. Well, we're happy to say that all the sizes have been restocked and, as far as we can tell, are available immediately. And for those of you who live in Europe...we have set up a temporary internet store for leftover shirts from our 2008 European tour. There are two designs available. You can find out more if you click on the "store" heading above.

Okay, that's it for now. We hope everyone is doing well.
Thanks for caring.

Love,
Explosions

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky for Summerstage, SXSW & Sasquatch"

"To celebrate their tenth anniversary, MONO will be bringing their infamous, face-melting live show to New York City for two special nights backed by the Wordless Music Orchestra, conducted by Jeff Milarsky. In addition to the previously announced show at the New York Society For Ethical Culture on May 8th, we are happy to announce they have added a second night, on May 9th at (Le) Poisson Rouge. This is the first time in MONO's career they have performed with additional instrumentation, and no better time than now, coinciding with the forthcoming release of Hymn To The Immortal Wind. Presented by the renowned Wordless Music Series, this rare and special performance will be the only North American concert in support of their new album.

After touring almost non-stop for five years, MONO hibernated for over a year to focus solely on writing Hymn To The Immortal Wind, to be released on March 24, 2009."

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: MONO - "Ashes In The Snow" (MP3)

Japan's MONO, who will play The Society For Ethical Culture with a 23-piece orchestra on 5/8 (tickets here), have released a video for "Follow The Map" from the upcoming Hymn To The Immortal Wind. Check it out below and check out "Ashes In The Snow" available for download above. Hymn To The Immortal Wind is currently up for pre-order on CD and 2LP, with the first 1000 copies of the 2LP coming in a "swirling mix of blues, greens and smoky greys". Trippy.

MONO is also reissuing a remastered and packaged-together One Step More And You Die / New York Soundtracks combo in limited colored vinyl which will come with a CD copy of Hymn To The Immortal Wind. More details are here.

Continue reading "Mono - new video, album presale, NYC show still on sale"

by Black Bubblegum

DOWNLOAD: Maserati - "Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sage" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Zombi - "Spirit Animal" (MP3 Snippet)
DOWNLOAD: Mono - "Ashes In The Snow" (MP3)

Zombi (photo by Shawn Brackbill)

Zombi is a space rock duo from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, consisting of Steve Moore on bass and synthesizers and Anthony Paterra on drums. The group makes use of looping to create multi-layered compositions. They have toured with Don Caballero, Isis, Orthrelm, The Psychic Paramount, Daughters, Red Sparowes, These Arms Are Snakes and Trans Am.

First up is Spirit Animal, Zombi's poppin' fresh LP due on Feb 3rd via Relapse Records. The band is currently streaming snippets of a pair of tracks at their myspace and made one of those snippets available for download here... check out "Spirit Animal" above.

Zombi's second release is decidedly different... the Sapphire 12" will be released on Throne Of Blood (aka The Rapture's label). Look for that on dancefloors, in February as well.

Finally, Zombi have paired up with Maserati to release a split LP on Temporary Residence Limited, due in, you guessed it, February. The kind folks at TRL have made one of those Maserati tracks (and an intro) available for download. Check out "Join Us, Mystic Sister / No More Sages" above. Maserati will be embarking on a short East Coast tour, hitting Le Poisson Rouge along the way on March 10th. Tickets are on sale.

While we are on the Temporary Residence Limited tip, labelmates MONO have dropped of an MP3 from their upcoming LP Hymn to the Immortal Wind check it out above. Tickets are still available for their 10th anniversary show at The Society For Ethical Culture with a 23-piece orchestra.

And that's not all for Steve Moore... the Zombi multi-instrumentalist wears many faces, a few of which will be showcased in the coming weeks. Look for a solo Steve Moore to hit Connolly's with Future Islands and Anamanaguchi on Jan 16th, and then again at Cake Shop with Jonas Reinhardt and ARP on Jan 30. He's also in Titan (who have no shows scheduled at the moment) and Lovelock who play Jan 23rd with College, Anoraak, and Russ Chimes as part of the Valerie party at Webster Hall.

All Maserati, Steve Moore, College, and Anoraak dates (none for Zombi yet), below...

Continue reading "Maserati, College & Anoraak tour dates, new Zombi releases, Steve Moore shows, Valerie & MONO"

Now we can officially announce the release of our 5th album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind. It has been 3 years since the release of our last album and we are truly grateful to still be able to create our music today. Being together as a band for 10 years has brought forth some changes and has hopefully allowed us to grow. We have created a special site to give you a preview of what to expect from Hymn To The immortal Wind. Please check it out.

As some of you may have heard, we will be celebrating our 10th anniversary with a special concert backed by a 23-piece orchestra conducted by Jeff Milarsky. The show will take place for one night only at the Society for Ethical Culture Concert Hall in New York City. This is actually our first time in our career to perform with additional instrumentation and we are excited to do this for the release of our newest album, Hymn To The Immortal Wind. It will be our only North American concert in support of Hymn To The Immortal Wind so please come join us on 5/8 in New York City. We are looking forward to share our new music live with all of you.

by Black Bubblegum

While on their European (mega)tour with Torche, Pelican hit a bit of a snag....

Two days ago we had a spare half hour to spend in Rome before heading to the venue, so we decided to go see the Coliseum. We parked nearby and went to take a brief twenty minute walk around the area. When we returned to our van we found that it had been broken into, despite being parked on a major street in broad daylight. Four bags were stolen, the contents including computers, passports, wallets, ipods, our soundguy's microphone collection, and, most devastatingly, a number of personal journals and two portable recording devices containing hours of song ideas that are now lost forever.

Pelican's North American 'Champions Of Sound' tour with Kayo Dot & Stove Bredsky kicks off in Mt. Clemens at the end of October.

Pelican and Torche's entire tour schedules are below.

Continue reading "Pelican robbed in Rome"

by Black Bubblegum

Three dudes with ridiculously bad wedgies

When you call your tour the 'Champions of Sound', you better be either a travelling reggae showcase or ready to ante the f up. Hopefully Pelican, Kayo Dot, and Stove Bredsky (aka Stephen Brodsky of Cave In) are up to the challenge when this eclectic tour of Hydra Head representatives goes east-coastin' in late October up 'til around Thanksgiving. Zozobra (with Caleb, also of Cave In lineage) are included in the festivities on a few dates. That includes the show at Bowery Ballroom on 11/2. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Pelican is gearing up to tour Europe with Torche, and recently dropped a lengthy update including details on their new record.

In related Kayo Dot news, Toby Driver has reformed his former band, Maudlin of The Well after asking for donations to help record unreleased tracks and receiving a big fattie courtesy of one superfan. As a result, the band will hit the studio in Feb of 2009 to record a digital only release. No word on who Maudlin Of The Well is/will be, other than Toby (natch)and Terran Olson. All dates below...

Continue reading "Pelican, Kayo Dot & Stove Bredsky - tour dates (Zozobra too)"

EITS signing autographs in Malaysia (zuhairyhashim)

Explosions in the Sky are on tour, and they play Terminal 5 in NYC tonight (April 8, 2008). Ola Podirda & Lichens are opening.

Did anyone go to the show in Long Island two nights ago? How was that?

by Black Bubblegum

As previously reported, the Chicago boys are scheduled to head out with Black Cobra & Unearthly Trance (look for "Electrocution", out Mar 18). In addition, the instru-metallers Pelican will also play the opening slot for emo-cum-proggers Thrice and Circa Survive on an upcoming US tour. Luckily for us NYers, Pelican has announced a separate headlining show at Music Hall Of Williamsburg on May 4th. Tickets go on sale Saturday Feb .16th at 10 AM. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Pelican - updated 2008 Tour Dates (Brooklyn show added)"

by BrooklynVegan Mike

DOWNLOAD: Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Rockets Fall On Rockets Fall (MP3)

Wait no longer for another Godspeed record, as it was announced on February 08th that the Montreal post-rockers have split. Citing various reasons, including inter-band tension and the Iraq War, Efrim Menuck reveals in an upcoming interview on Drowned In Sound, that "on a personal level, I now find [Godspeed You! Black Emperor] to be inappropriate." While there has certainly been no talk of them reforming for some time (they have been on indefinate hiatus since 2003), many people (myself included) had always held out for future releases. It's a question Efrim gets asked constantly and evidently he chose this interview to put the matter to rest.

Credited with being part of the second wave of post-rock. the group was influential in a number of ways. A couple years ago when Montreal was the "New Seattle," the BBC did a documentary on the scene and specifically, The Arcade Fire. And many of the people (including Regine from the Arcade Fire and Arlen from Wolf Parade) interviewed cite the group as a major reason why there is a scene at all. They will be missed.

Continue reading "Godspeed You! Black Emperor (R.I.P)"

Tickets are now on presale regular sale for a whole bunch of Explosions in the Sky shows including April 8th at Terminal 5 in NYC. EITS is also curating ATP (May 16-18, 2008) - Portishead curated the one that just happened. All dates below...

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky - 2008 Tour Dates, presale, ATP"

DOWNLOAD: Mono - Gone (MP3)

Japanese post-rock pioneers MONO have amassed nearly all of their hard-to-find material on next month’s ambitious rarity collection, Gone. Out September 11th via Temporary Residence, the record tells the tale of MONO’s astounding eight-year journey, setting forth the band’s rare and out-of-print non-album tracks chronologically, from the modest opening notes of “Finlandia” to the scorched finale of “Little Boy (1945-Future).” Beautifully re-mastered from their original master tapes, each song is culled from a series of highly sought-after releases – the Japanese-only debut Hey, You. EP, the band’s split LP with Pelican, the Cameron Crowe-commissioned Memorie dal Futuro vinyl 10”, and The Phoenix Tree, MONO’s out-of-print EP for the storied Travels In Constants series.

Continue reading "Mono & High on Fire - 2007 Tour Dates & 'Gone' MP3"

As previously reported, Pelican are touring this summer. They play Bowery Ballroom tomorrow (July 24), and Luna Lounge in Brooklyn the day after that. Listen @ MySpace. All tour dates below...

Continue reading "Pelican - updated 2007 Tour Dates"

Tickets are on sale for a July 24th Pelican show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC, and a show four days earlier at Mohawk Place, and one on July 28th at The Black Cat in DC. No other announced dates at the moment.

Explosions in the Sky announced some U.S. tour dates including a third NYC show.

02/19 - Brooklyn, NY Warsaw w/ Mountains (tix)
02/20 - New York, NY The Wordless Music Series (tix)
03/20 - New York, NY Webster Hall w/ The Paper Chase, Eluvium (tix)

Presale here. All tour dates below....

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky | more 2007 Tour Dates (presale)"

Explosions in the Sky are coming back to NYC to play TWO shows this February.

EITS | 2007 NYC TOUR DATES
2-19 - Warsaw in Brooklyn
2-20 - Concert Hall (Wordless Music Series) in Manhattan w/ Ayano Kataoka

NEW CD, PRESALE, CA SHOWS
February 20th is also the day their new CD comes out. A presale for both shows is now underway. Keep in mind that the Concert Hall one has seats.

EITS are playing three shows in California this month.

WORDLESS MUSIC SERIES
The next Wordless Music Series (WMS) event featuring performances by Andrew Bird, Steven Beck, and A Hawk and a Hacksaw is this Wednesday. Tickets appear to be sold out. That last link is also where EITS tix will be after the presale is over. The last WMS show had some members of Wilco.

"...on Saturday Nov. 11th, drone duo GROWING will be performing at a Red Cross Benefit show at the Water Street Restaurant and Lounge in Brooklyn. Also on the bill are CHORD (featuring members of Pelican) and The Austerity Program (Hydra Head Records). All proceeds from the door will go to the American Red Cross. We also have some great Giveaways/Raffles from Decibel Magazine, Southern Lord Records, and Powerhouse Books. Doors @ 7. Come early and eat in the restaurant and 10% of your bill will be donated to the Red Cross."

EITS @ BOWERY BALLROOM, NYC | SEPT 3, 2006 (CRED)

this article posted on: Sun., October 8, 2006

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Hello, everyone...

Continue reading "Explosions in the Sky - news"