Portland Maine-originated and Olympia-based band, Acid Smoker have released their self-titled follow-up to their 2013 album, Ergot. Today, to celebrate the release, they have also released a video to go along with the track, “Under the Sun.” The video shows a man in the dumps in his life and while watching television, sees an ad for cigarettes, and figures it is his best chance to get over his “post-college slump.” Watch it below.
It was announced last month that a massive 7″ singles compilation benefitting Planned Parenthood would feature songs from Björk, Bon Iver, Sleater-Kinney, Foo Fighters, the National’s Matt Berninger and Bryce Dessner, and more. One of the “more” was Elliott Smith, whose unreleased live version of “Pretty (Ugly Before)” has been revealed. Listen to the song below, which was recorded in 1999, years before it appeared posthumously on From a Basement on the Hill. The track features an accompaniment from Jon Brion on pump organ. According to Mark Flanagan, the owner of L.A. venue Largo, where the performance was recorded, this was the first time Smith ever played the song live.
“Jon [Brion] happened to be at Largo that night and he and Elliott sequestered themselves in my tiny upstairs office and he played us the song,” Flanagan said in a statement. “I found this cassette recording among the many cassette recordings I have of his shows from almost 20 years ago and can think of no better place for it to find it’s way to all kind people who support girls young and older in our world.”
Elliott Smith’s estate also issued a statement with the release of the song:
Elliott did and said many things in his life that showed his commitment to the principles that Planned Parenthood stands for, including equal rights for all, affordable and accessible access to healthcare, and a woman’s autonomy over her body. He was an outspoken feminist (evidenced not only by his actions and countless conversations with friends and family, but also by his culminating college thesis written in spring of 1991 entitled “Toward a Post-Structuralist Feminist Jurisprudence”). He went out of his way to play for or otherwise contribute to charitable causes. For these reasons, and so many more, Elliott’s family has no doubt that he would feel very proud to be part of this project.
Michelle Zauner has announced a new Japanese Breakfast album. It is the follow-up to their debut Psychopomp and it is called Soft Sounds From Another Planet. It is out July 14th via Dead Oceans. Zauner has also shared the self-directed video for lead single “Machinist.” In a press release, she said, “The song is a sci-fi narrative about a woman who falls in love with a robot. In the video she hallucinates on rocket fuel and tears apart her spaceship in an attempt to build a body for her robot lover.” Watch Japanese Breakfast’s “Machinist” video below and find the Soft Sounds tracklist below that. Find her upcoming tour itinerary here.
Soft Sounds From Another Planet:
01 Diving Woman
02 Road Head
03 Machinist
04 Planetary Ambience
05 Soft Sounds From Another Planet
06 Boyish
07 12 Steps
08 Jimmy Fallon Big
09 Body Is a Blade
10 Till Death
11 This House
12 Here Come the Tubular Bells
At the Drive In have shared “Pendulum in a Peasant Dress,” a new song from their first album in 17 years, in•ter a•li•a. Listen to it below. At the Drive In will also head on tour behind the album throughout the summer; check out the itinerary here. In•ter a•li•a is out May 5th via Rise Records.
The Avalanches released Wildflower last year, the long-awaited follow-up to Since I Left You from 2000. After playing a string of shows in April, including one at Coachella for their first U.S. show in 15 years, the band has announced additional North American tour dates. The Avalanches will perform a set at Brooklyn Bowl on June 3rd before their Governors Ball performance on June 4th. See the itinerary below. At the beginning of the year, they played a number of dates in their home of Australia.
The Avalanches:
06-03 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl
06-04 New York, NY – Governors Ball
06-05 Washington, DC – 930 Club
06-07 Philadelphia, PA – Theatre of the Living Arts
06-09 Toronto, Ontario – Danforth
06-10 Montreal, Quebec – Corona Theatre
06-12 Boston, MA – The Royale
07-16 Chicago, IL – Pitchfork Music Festival
Watch the music video for “Frankie Sinatra” below:
Radiohead have released a new video that is soundtracked by the distorted voice of a young girl and the glitchy computer visuals are very much indecipherable except for several lines of text, which read, “Program: radiohead” and, near the end, “1 REM.” The girl’s narration includes lyrics from the song “Climbing Up the Walls” from OK Computer. Watch it below.
For every day of the first 100 of Donald Trump’s administration, the anti-Trump compilation Our First 100 Days have shared a new song. Contributions included songs from Angel Olsen, Mitski, Avey Tare, Jay Som, Toro Y Moi, Speedy Ortiz, Tim Heidecker, and others. Today, the final installment has come. It is a cover of the Woody Guthrie classic “This Land Is Your Land” from Phosphorescent. Listen below.
Björk has announced a new career-spanning songbook. It is called 34 Scores for Piano, Organ, Harpsichord and Celeste, and it will come out June 5th via Wise Publications. She collaborated in making the book with pianist Jonas Sen, design house M/M Paris, and engraver Werner Wolff. 34 Scores will include arrangements of songs from Debut, Post, Homogenic, Selmasongs, Vespertine, Medúlla, Drawing Restraint 9, Volta, and Vulnicura. Find all the included songs here.
34 Scores is available exclusively at the Björk Digital exhibition in Los Angeles, May 19th-June 4th, ahead of its official release. She will perform pieces from the songbook with 32 string players at her upcoming L.A. concert on May 30th.
After announcing their tour by surprise in March and playing at Celebration 2017 one year after Prince’s death, The Revolution are continuing their tour through this summer until July 15th at the Showbox in Seattle. The Revolution, the band recorded the iconic Purple Rain with, are touring together for the first time in 30 years. Find the updated itinerary below.
Jonathan Demme, the acclaimed director, died today due to complications from esophageal cancer. In the hours following his death, Tom Hanks (Philadelphia) and Meryl Streep (Ricki and the Flash) paid tribute to the filmmaker. David Byrne has written a eulogy for Demme, who directed Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense. Byrne starts, “I met Jonathan in the ’80s when Talking Heads were touring a show that he would eventually film and turn into Stop Making Sense. While touring, I thought the show had turned out well and might hold up as a movie, and a mutual friend introduced us.” He continues with praise for Demme’s Melvin and Handle With Care, as well as his “love of ordinary people.” Byrne continues on Demme’s Talking Heads documentary:
Stop Making Sense was character driven too. Jonathan’s skill was to see the show almost as a theatrical ensemble piece, in which the characters and their quirks would be introduced to the audience, and you’d get to know the band as people, each with their distinct personalities. They became your friends, in a sense. I was too focused on the music, the staging and the lighting to see how important his focus on character was—it made the movies something different and special. Jonathan was also incredibly generous during the editing and mixing. He and producer Gary Goetzman made us in the band feel included; they wanted to hear what we had to say. That inclusion was hugely inspirational for me. Though I had directed music videos before, this mentoring of Jonathan’s emboldened me to try making a feature film.
Read Byrne’s full essay here.
The Melodic Tree 