Drone pop duo, Midwife (Madeline Johnston from Sister Grotto and guitarist Tucker Theodore) have announced a new EP, Prayer Hands, a follow-up to last year’s Like Author, Like Daughter. To coincide with the announcement, they have also shared a dreamy song called “Angel.” Listen to it below.
Pryer Hands is set to be out July 29th through Antiquated Future. Pre-order the EP here.
The Islands and Unicorns frontperson, Nick Thorburn, has announced a new graphic novel about and aptly named Penguins and the 288-page book will come out via Fantagraphics in September.
“Penguins go through a lot of hell that could be avoided if they had the ability to fly,” Thorburnsays about the story, which is mostly wordless. “This cruel irony lends itself to humor, as well as sadness. Death and the desperate search for love and companionship seem so tethered to life as a penguin, as well as for humans, and so the goal was to bridge those two and make them funny.”
A book with Norman Seeff’s photography of Joni Mitchell is on its way. With over a decade worth of photos together, Joni Mitchell: The Norman Seeff Sessions is set to come out November 6th through Insight Editions. The release also happens to be the day before Mitchell’s 75th birthday, which takes place the following day. Seeff’s photographs were used for Mitchell’s album covers for Hejira and Don Juan’s Reckless Daughter.
James Blake spoke at the Performing Arts Medicine Association’s (an organization that focuses on the improvement of health care for musicians, dancers, and actors) symposium in Orange County, California yesterday as a guest speaker. Blake opened up about his experiences with depression and anxiety during a panel called “You Got This: Managing the Suicide Crisis in the Arts Population,” Billboard reports.
Blake revealed that he experienced “suicidal thoughts” from touring. When he released the CMYK EP and James Blake. “I was taken away from normal life essentially at an age where I was half-formed,” he said, according to Billboard. He also went on to say that because of the very brief interactions that artists have with others while on tour, only the “good stuff” is talked about, “which generally doesn’t involve how anxious you feel [or] how depressed you feel.”
Blake also discussed how poor eating habits affected him. “I would say that chemical imbalance due to diet and the deterioration of my health was a huge, huge factor in my depression and eventual suicidal thoughts,” he said, according to Billboard. “I developed [dietary] intolerances that would lead to existential depression on a daily basis. I would eat a certain thing and then all day I would feel like there was just no point.”
Blake said he began using an experimental treatment called EMDR therapy and how he had started to cut ties with people who were enabling unhealthy behavior. “Honestly, a lot of catharsis just came in telling lots of people to fuck off,” he said. “And saying no. Saying no to constant touring. No [amount of] money will ever be enough.”
He said he has started to open up about his depression and anxiety because “we are the generation that’s watched several other generations of musicians turn to drugs and turn to excess and coping mechanisms that have destroyed them,” he said, according to Billboard. “And there are so many high-profile people recently who’ve taken their own lives. So we, I think, have a responsibility to talk about it and to remove the stigma.”
Devo performed a career-spanningset at the Burger Boogaloo last night in Oakland where they were joined by Fred Armisen. “He brought his vintage Club DEVO membership kit to rehearsals, which he purchased in the early 1980s,” the band wrote on Twitter. Watch clips of the performance and a photo of Armisen in the jumpsuit and energy dome below.
1. Shiver – Jupiter Sprites
2. Pipe Dream – Kyle Duke and the Brown Bag Boys
3. Better All the Time – Zuli
4. July Eyes -SEND MEDICINE
5. Little Bird – Livingmore
6. Try 🙂 – Faith Healer
7. Cheers – Sleepwalkers
8. Hate is an Attractive Force – SLEEP RADIO
9. Flowers – Palmas
10. Taking Up Space – Mustard Service
11. The Conservation of Energy – Vanishing Twin
12. Blue Meanies -Opposom
13. Forever Underfoot – Aan
14. Sun Kids – Spaceface
15. Orchids – The Shacks
16. Sex – Mango Lane
17. Away – Mons Vi
18. Back to Land – Wooden Shjips
19. Wavy Gravy – Okey Dokey
20. Laurel Leaves – Modern Aquatic
Kamasi Washington has released a new EP, The Choice, on Apple Music and Spotify. It is a companion piece to Heaven and Earth, his most recent album. You can listen to the EP on Spotify below. Fans received a free copy of the EP when they ordered a physical copy of his new album. The EP has two covers — Carole King and Gerry Coffin’s “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow” and the Five Stairsteps’ 1970 song “Ooh Child.”
https://open.spotify.com/embed?uri=spotify%3Aalbum%3A1OXRMkgSxRangbc9KG7Rgl
Grouper, aka Liz Harris, has announced a tour which starts in September with an appearance at Hopscotch Music Festival in Raleigh, North Carolina on September 8th. After dates in North America, Grouper will perform in Europe, with shows in Copenhagen, Barcelona, London, Glasgow, and more. Check out the full itinerary below.
Grouper:
09-08 Raleigh, NC – Hopscotch Music Fest
09-10 Philadelphia, PA – Union Transfer
09-12 Brooklyn, NY – Murmrr Theatre
09-14-16 Hudson, NY – Basilica Soundscape
09-17 Brooklyn, NY – The Park Church Co-op
09-19 Somerville, MA – The Center For The Arts
09-21 Montreal, Québec – La Sala Rossa
09-23 Chicago, IL – Bohemian National Cemetery
10-13 Riga, Latvia – Skaņu Mežs Festival
10-16 Vilnius, Lithuania – Kablys Club
10-18 Oslo, Norway – Toyen Church
10-23 Copenhagen, Denmark – Alice
10-24 Copenhagen, Denmark – Alice
10-25 Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apolo
10-29 London, England – Hackney Arts Centre
10-31 Glasgow, Scotland – The Mackintosh Church
How to Dress Well has returned with a new song called “Vacant Boat (shred) | Non-Killing 1 | The Anteroom | False Skull 1.” As well as a segment of a song called “The Anteroom” as a standalone track. They are two sides of a single called “Land of the Overflowing Urn” which was released on Domino. Listen below.
Mitski has shared a music video for her new song “Nobody,”the second song from her upcoming album, Be The Cowboy. Watch below. The surreal clip was filmed in five days in Kansas City and was directed by Christopher Good. “I’ve never been able to take this much time to shoot a video, so it was wonderful to have the space to get the details right, as well as actually hang out and have fun with everyone involved,” Mitski said in a statement. “This video made me fall unexpectedly in love with Kansas City.”
Mitski will be on tour until June 30, and and then will return to the road following the release of Be the Cowboy on August 17th.
The Melodic Tree 