Jazz saxophonist Kamasi Washington has announced the vinyl release of The Epic, his 2015 LP. The triple LP will be out on October 2nd through Brainfeeder. It will feature poster inserts, custom artwork; and a story adaptation by Kenturah Davis. Check out what it will look like here. Listen to “Re Run Home” here.
Bill Hader and Fred Armisen to “reunite” as Blue Jean Committee and release an EP
Fred Armisen and Bill Hader have been long been walking the line with comedy and music, with Armisen even releasing a few parody tracks they had wrote on SNL over the years. There’s plenty of more to come now.
Documentary Now! is the new IFC series from Armisen, Hader, and Seth Meyers that parodies documentary styles and the upcoming final part of the season will have a Behind The Music-esque style. It will follow the Blue Jean Committee a band that originally came from SNL and is named Gentle & Soft: The Story Of The Blue Jean Committee. In a tie-in, Drag City will be releasing the band’s “best” material on a Catalina Breeze EP.
Pre-order the Catalina Breeze EP here. It will be out on November 11th.
Beirut explore island of trash in new video for “Gibraltar”
In June, Beirut released the video for “No No No,” a clip that had the band using baguettes and skunks as instruments. In the latest video from the band, “Gibraltar, directed by Brother Willis again, the group wandered across an island that looked nothing like the track’s namesake, the Mediterranean destination. It is completely overrun by trash which Beirut go through and try to salvage. Watch here.
As the follow-up to The Rip Tide, No No No is set to be released on September 11th through 4AD.
Julian Casablancas + The Voidz cancel North American tour
Julian Casablancas + The Voidz played a successful set while in Brooklyn earlier this month but it appears that now they will not be taking the show on the road like they wanted. Exclaim reports that the band’s recently-announced Immaculate Powerlords tour in North America has been cancelled. The blame is to the ambitious stage set-up. Here’s the statement via press release:
With great regret, we need to cancel our upcoming shows in North America.
We had set out to do something a bit different with these shows and create more of an experience that would be inspiring to our fans as well as to the band. In order to make this work we needed many pieces to fall into place that just didn’t.
Everyone will of course be given a full refund.
We are going to regroup and re-approach this in the way it was intended, and soon.
-humbleLords
Here are all the dates that were cancelled:
09/08 Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriets
09/11 San Francisco, CA @ Independent
09/12 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
09/16 Seattle, WA @ Showbox
09/19 Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
10/07 Chicago, IL @ Metro
10/09 Toronto, ON @ The Phoenix
10/13 Northampton, MA @ Pearl Street
10/14 New Haven, CT @ Toad’s Place
10/21 Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
10/22 Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
The Melodic Tree’s Weekly Playlist
1. Slipping Away – Tanlines
2. Five Seconds – Twin Shadow
3. This Disorder- The Features
4. Buttons – The Weeks
5. Up, On & Over – Bronze Radio Return
6. S.O.B. – Nathaniel Ratecliff & The Night Sweats
7. Morocco – Moon Taxi
8. Coming Home – Leon Bridges
9. Easier All The Time – Barbarisms
10. Shuggie – Foxygen
11. Simple As This – Jake Bugg
12. Summer Girl – Family of the Year
13. OutRight – Wild Party
14. Horizon Approaching – Two Cartoons
15. White Lie – Jhameel
16. Dark Again – Gold Fields
17. Annie – Neon Indian
18. While I’m Alive – STRFKR
19. Shame – All The Colours
20. Shoulders – Art of Sleeping
Foals cover Mark Ronson and Tame Impala’s “Daffodils”
Funk and R&B are not typically the first things to come to mind when thinking of Foals. This could change after the band performed a cover of “Daffodils” by Mark Ronson and Tame Impala frontman Kevin Parker.
The UK rock band performed the cover at Australia’s triple j radio station, passing it as if it was one of their own songs. Frontman of Foals, Yannis Philippakis stood in place of Kevin Parmer and added his own spin to the vocal arrangements. Watch here.
Foals’ new album, What Went Down, is set to be released on August 28th.
Neon Indian announces new album and shares “Slumlord”
Synthpop artist, Alan Paloma, also known as Neon Indian, will come out eill his first album in four years on October 16th. Named VEGA INTL. Night School, was written over a year and “brims with funk-centric guitar lines, pronounced Balearic rhythms, and the most elaborate songwriting of his career,” according to the press release. The artwork is above.
Set out through Mom + Pop/Transgressive, the followup to Era Extraña was composed and recorded in various places including a cabin, a cruise ship, DFA’s New York Plantain Studios, and Pure X’s Austin practice space. Palomo said: “Most of what I’ve learned about human nature in my twenties has happened after dark. People are just kind of more honest then. More deliberate. I like to call the places I go to Night Schools.”
The first listen of VEGA INTL. is the lead single “Slumlord.” Listen to it here, and find the full tracklist and newly announced tour dates below.
VEGA INTL. Night School Tracklist:
01. Hit Parade
02. Annie
03. Street Level
04. Smut!
05. Bozo
06. The Glitzy Hive
07. Dear Skorpio Magazine
08. Slumlord
09. Slumlord’s Re-Lease
10. Techno Clique
11. Baby’s Eyes
12. C’est La Vie (say the casualties!)
13. 61 Cygni ave.
14. News From the Sun (live bootleg)
Neon Indian 2015 Tour Dates:
08/21 – Mexico City, MX @ Semana De Las Juventudes Festival
08/23 – Los Angeles, CA @ FYF Fest
09/12 – El Paso, TX @ Mother of Pearl Block Party
09/17 – Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
09/18 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune
09/19 – Victoria, BC @ Rifflandia Festival
09/20 – Vancouver, BC @ Imperial
09/22 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Social Hall
09/23 – San Francisco, CA @ Regency Social Hall
09/29 – Manor, TX @ J Lorrain Ghost Town
09/30 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger
10/01 – Dallas, TX @ The Bomb Factory
10/02 – Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s
10/13 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
10/14 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
10/16 – Detroit, MI @ Populux
10/17 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
10/20 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
10/21 – Madison, WI @ Majestic Theatre
10/22 – Columbus, OH @ A&R Music Bar
10/23 – Buffalo, NY @ Tralf Music Hall
11/07 – Austin, TX @ Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/08 – New Orleans, LA @ Republic
11/10 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
11/11 – Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom
11/15 – Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
Stream Mick Jenkins’ new mixtape Wave[s]
Mick Jenkins will release his upcoming mixtape, Wave[s] on August 21st. The entire project is a skiable for streaming here courtesy of NPR.com.
Due out through Jenkins’ Free Nation imprint under the label, Cinematic Music Group, the Wave[s] is the followup to The Water[s] mixtape. The EP features producers such as Kaytranada, Lee Bannon, ThemPeople, and others; as well as guest such as Saba, Sean Deaux, and The Mind.
Wave[s] Tracklist:
01. Alchemy (Prod. Lee Bannon & ThemPeople)
02. Slumber feat. Saba & Sean Deaux (Prod. by Thempeople)
03. Get Up Get Down (Prod. By Stefan Ponce & Thempeople)
04. Your Love (Prod. By Kaytranada)
05. Piano (Prod. by Thempeople)
06. The Giver (Prod. by Thempeople)
07. 40 Below (Prod. by Thempeople)
08. P’s & Q’s (Prod. By Kaytranada)
09. Perception feat. The Mind (Prod. By Mulatto & ThemPeople)
Alabama Shakes perform two stellar songs on Conan
Typically, a rock band choose a song that is high energy for a talk show to catch the attention of the audience. However, Alabama Shakes delivered a the slow “Gimmie All Your Love” and still caught the attention of the crowd. Supporting their sophomore LP, Sound & Color, the band also performed “Future People” for a web exclusive. Watch “Gimme All Your Love” here and “Future People” here.
Watch Bon Iver’s entire headlining set at Eaux Claires Festival
Bon Iver gave a stunning set at this year’s first Eaux Claires Festival, not just because it was their first show in three years. Other than the fact that it was their return, the performance was a breathtaking experience for everyone in the audience, as Justin Vernon forced back tears as he and his bandmates and friends played both new and old material.
The set saw two new songs, providing fans hope that the band will be back soon, even though Vernon gave mixed signals on the subject. Guests came in and out throughout the performance, whether it was The Staves, Colin Stetson or the Dessner brothers, Aaron and Bryce. Now you can watch the entire thing.
Redditers found a YouTube video of the entire set, which can be watched below. The setlist can also be found below, thanks to uploader Paul Seal and Setlist.fm.
Bon Iver Eaux Claires Festival 2015 Setlist:
Intro (00:34)
Heavenly Father (03:20) w/ The Staves
Lump Sum (07:23) w/ yMusic
Towers (13:11)
Calgary (16:53)
Flume (23:05)
Blindsided (26:00) w/ Josh Scott
Brackett, WI (32:20) w/ Colin Stetson
Babys (36:25) w/ Aaron and Bryce Dessner
Holocene (41:35)
Pert (48:32) w/ The Staves
For Emma (53:33) w/ No BS! Brass Band
The Wolves (Act I and II) (58:10)
New Song #1 (01:04:40) w/ yMusic
New Song #2 (01:08:52) w/ The Staves
Skinny Love (01:14:00)
The Melodic Tree 