After getting back together this year, the Avalanches have released their first album in over a decade, Wildflower. They have played a few shows as well, including at Primavera Sound last month. But those were DJ sets, and for the first time in over a decade, the Avalanches played with their full live band. Robbie Chater played guitar, Tony Di Blasi was behind the boards, Paris Jeffree was on the drums, and vocals were contributed by rapper Spank Rock and singer Eliza Wolfgramm, according to Triple J.the set took place at Splendour in the Grass Festival. Watch a clip of their performance below via Stereogum.
After leaving Vampire Weekend in January, Rostam Batmanglij has been on a busy schedule. He has been putting out solo singles in “EOS” and “Gravity Don’t Pull Me” as well as helping co-write Francis and the Lights and Kanye West’s “Friends.”
Batmanglij has started a new group with Hamilton Leithauser of The Walkmen called Hamilton Leithauser + Rostam. They have issued “A 1000 Times,” their debut track under the moniker. Check it out below.
The former Vampire Weekend member was featured prominently on Black Hours, Leithauser’s 2014 solo album. In an interview with Pitchfork earlier this year, Batmanglij mentioned that an album from the new project is in the works:
“I’ve also been making a full-length record with Hamilton Leithauser, which I’m very excited about. Our plan is to release it as a duo, basically, and every now and then I get a feeling that it might be one of the best records I make in my whole life. We worked really hard on lyrics and every song tells a story. In some ways, the more that I write songs, the more I feel that telling a story is the most important thing; just being able to close your eyes when you hear some lyrics and go somewhere. It’s worth taking the time to do that, because people respond to it.”
David Bowie released the 12xCD box set Five Years 1969-1973 last year. The next set in the series has now been announced. It’s called Who Can I Be Now? (1974 – 1976) and it is out through Parlophone although there is not yet a release date. In the set is Bowie’s planned album The Gouster, which became Young Americans. The box set will come with a book with liner notes courtesy of Bowie’s close collaborator Tony Visconti as well.
Visconti explains that “gouster” was “a type of dress code worn by African American teens in the ’60s, in Chicago.” He continues, “in the context of the album meaning was attitude, an attitude of pride and hipness.” He wrote that the two of them “wanted to make a killer soul album,” so The Gouster was “40 minutes of glorious funk.” See the album cover and the liner notes above!
White Lung have shared a video for “Dead Weight,” the lead song on their latest album Paradise. Directed by John Stavas, it shows the band’s Mish Way singing inside her Los Angeles home. Watch it below. Find their tour dates below.
White Lung:
07-19 Cleaveland, OH – Beachland Ballroom *
07-20 Detroit, MI – El Club *
07-22 Oro-Medonte, Ontario – WayHome Music & Arts Festival
07-24 New York, NY – Panorama Music & Arts Festival
07-29 Montreal, Quebec – Osheaga Festival0
7-30 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall ^
08-01 Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle ^
08-02 Washington, DC – Rock & Roll Hotel ^
08-03 Pittsburgh, PA – Club Cafe ^
08-04 Columbus, OH – Big Room Bar ^
08-05 Milwaukee, WI – Turner Hall Restaurant ^
08-06 Minneapolis, MN – Triple Rock Social Club ^
08-08 Winnipeg, Manitoba – The Good Will ^
08-10 Calgary, Alberta – Commonwealth ^
08-12 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios ^
08-13 Seattle, WA – Neumos ^
08-15 San Francisco, CA – The Independent ^
09-04-06 Denver, CO – Riot Fest & Rodeo
09-16-18 Chicago, IL – Riot Fest & Carnival
10-07-09 Edmonton, Alberta – Up + Downtown Music Festival
Broken Social Scene have been working on the follow-up to 2010’s Forgiveness Rock Record. The Canadian band performed a new song called “Gonna Get Better” at their show in Chicago Thursday, and last night at Pitchfork Music Festival again. Watch professional-quality footage of their performance below.
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Kishi Bashi will release a new album on September 16th. Named Sonderlust, it will be his third full-length after 2014’s Lighght and his first big release since his live record, String Quartet: Live last year. The 10-track LP features production from Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor as well as drums by Matt Chamberlain (Morrissey, Fiona Apple, of Montreal).
For Kishi Bashi, who was a member of of Montreal, Sonderlust represents his most personal effort to date, one “forged through heartbreak” as he and his wife of 13 years struggled to stay afloat. “As I sat down to write songs last summer, I went to all my usual conduits of creation: violin loops, guitar, piano, and I came up with the musical equivalent of fumes,” he said in a press statement. “I tried to create orchestral pop recordings that I assumed were my forte, and in turn I found myself standing in front of a creative wall of frightening heights.”
“This album is straight from my soul,” he added. “I questioned everything about what it means to love and desire. The difference between loving someone and being in love.”
Kishi Bashi has shared “Say Yeah,” stream it below.
Jagwar Ma released their debut album Howlin’ in 2013. They have now announced its follow-up, called Every Now & Then, and it is due out this fall via Mom + Pop. The announcement is joined by the video for the album’s first song “OB1.” Watch the video below. It was produced by the band and mixed by DJ Ewan Pearson, the track features drumming from Stella Mozgawa (of Warpaint). Gabriel Winterfield from the band said that the song is about “moving through the motions of life under the influence of lost love, the fear of letting go of the past when not having anything set in place in the future to hold on to.” Jono Ma added that the song was “designed for nocturnal road trips and foraging through forests for morning fresh champignons.”
The band also will go on an international tour, starting at Splendour in the Grass Festival in Australia on July 24th, and ending in November in Bordeaux, France. Find their tour dates below.
Jagwar Ma:
07-24 North Byron Parklands, Australia – Splendour in the Grass Festival
07-29 Aulnoye Aimeries, France – Nuits Secretes
07-30 Cabourg Mon Amour, France – Cabourg
08-19 St. Pӧlten, Austria – FM4 Frequency Festival
8-20 Brecon Beacons, Wales – Green Man Festival
08-25 Salt lake City, UT – Pioneer Park *
08-27 Los Angeles, CA – FYF Festival
08-29 San Diego, CA – Casbah
08-30 Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy Theatre
08-31 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
09-02 Portland, OR – Mississippi Studios
09-03 Seattle, WA – Bumbershoot Festival
09-10 Berlin, Germany – Lollapalooza
09-11 Isle of Wight, England – Bestival
10-01 Kent, England – By The Sea Festival
10-20 Glasgow, Scotland – The Art School
10-21 Manchester, England – Manchester Academy 2
10-23 Bristol, England – Marble Factory
10-25 Leeds, England – Brudenell Social Club
10-26 London, England – Electric Ballroom
11-03 Chicago, IL – Bottom Lounge
11-04-06 McDade, TX – Sound on Sound Fest
11-07 Toronto, Ontario – The Hoxton
11-08 Montreal, Quebec – Theatre Fairmount
11-09 Boston, MA – Brighton Music Hall
11-11 Philadelphia, PA – The Foundry at The Fillmore
11-12 New York, NY – Webster Hall
11-18 Tourcoing, France – Grand Mix
11-19 Paris, France – La Cigale
11-20 Nantes, France – Stereolux
11-22 Bordeaux, France – Rock School
Real Estate announced that guitarist Matt Mondanile was leaving the band in May in order to focus on his own Ducktails project. After his departure, the band played a few shows with new member and guitarist Julian Lynch as “a prelude to the recording of their next album.” They have announced a fall U.S. tour today.Check out Real Estate’s upcoming itinerary below.
In May, Real Estate stated that their next album is “tentatively slated” to be released early 2017.
Real Estate:
07-31 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Ampitheater *
08-26 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom
09-29 Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theater $
09-30 Saxapahaw, NC – Haw River Ballroom $
10-01 Atlanta, GA – Project Pabst
10-02 Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre #
10-04 Bloomington, IL – Castle Theater $
10-05 Champaign, IL – The Accord $
10-07 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theater
10-08 Madison, WI – Club Majestic $
10-10 Grand Rapids, MI – The Pyramid Scheme $
10-11 Columbus, OH – Skully’s Music Diner $
10-12 Ithaca, NY – The Haunt $
* with The National
# with Blitzen Trapper
$ with EZTV
Bon Iver have announced shows on the West Coast, which will happen in October. One of them is at the Beach Goth Festival. They will be joined by Francis and the Lights in Oakland, and by Julianna Barwick in San Diego. Check out the dates below. The shows are paired with a previously announced West Coast show with Patti Smith and Hiss Golden Messenger, which will happen in October also. Last week, Bon Iver and Kanye West appeared on Francis and the Lights’ “Friends,” which had a video where Justin Vernon did a synchronized dance. Watch it below.
Vernon said earlier this year announced that new Bon Iver music would debut at the band’s headlining gig at Eaux Claires Festival, which is curated by Vernon. The band’s last release was 2011’s self-titled record.
Bon Iver:
08-12-13 Eau Claire, WI – Eaux Claires Festival
10-18 Oakland, CA – Fox Theater *
10-22 Santa Ana, CA – Beach Goth Festival
10-23 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Bowl &%
10-26 San Diego, CA – Copley Symphony Hall ^
* with Francis and the Lights
& with Patti Smith
% with Hiss Golden Messenger
^ with Julianna Barwick
In April, Carnegie Hall and Radio City Music Hall hosted a pair of sold-out tribute shows in tribute of David Bowie. Artists such as Michael Stipe, the Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Blondie’s Debbie Harry, Laurie Anderson, and more covered songs that spanned throughout Bowie’s career. Okayplayer TV has shared a documentary, directed by Rafe Scoobey-Thal, that features interviews with many of the concert’s participants. Recorded backstage during rehearsals for the show, the artists revealed some of their favorite songs and talked about their favorite memories of Bowie. Cat Power, Stipe, the Mountain Goats’ John Darnielle, Esperanza Spalding, Anderson, Cyndi Lauper, Harry, the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne, Bilal, Perry Farrell, Rickie Lee Jones, Robyn Hitchcock, and Heart’s Ann Wilson talked in the video. You can watch it below.
The documentary also featured footage of Bowie live shows and music videos, mixed with the interviews.
The Melodic Tree 