Woods – “To Clean”
(MTV.com says “tight and beautifully lighthearted ghostly folkish songs”)
Future of the Left – “Arming Eritrea”
(ex-Mclusky)
Ear Pwr – “Future Eyes”
(Blistering thumpers with infectious melodies, Disco chants with wild-eyed electro anthems)
Ganglians – “Lost Words”
(pure naive headphone acid pop to drive to)
Phenomenal Handclap Band – “15 to 20”
(Rolling Stone says “summer’s first party jam… wildly catchy”)
The Silent Years – “Madame Shocking”
(dreamy keys and strings beside soaring melodies)
These United States – “Honor Amongst Thieves”
(unbridled rock and roll exuberance: ringing guitars, thundering drums, desperate yearning bordering on hope)
Steinbeck – “Possessions (Not the One By Danzig)”
(from Atom and His Package tribute CD)
Assemble Head in Sunburst Sound – “By the Rippling Green”
(a soundtrack for strange days and futures bright and bleak)
Japandroids – “Young Hearts Spark Fire”
(Pitchfork says, “distortion-cranked garage-rock anthems about fleeting youth”)
Discovery – “Orange Shirt”
(Vampire Weekend / Ra Ra Riot side project)
Asides
Interview: Jason Lytle
Jason Lytle’s first solo album, Yours Truly, The Commuter, is now available on Anti- Records. Lytle is also starting to fill in summer tour dates which you’ll find below.
DOWNLOAD: Jason Lytle as interviewed by AtomicNed’s Chip Midnight (MP3) (28min 53sec)
(Note: If you’re not able to download the file, or if bandwidth maximum is reached, send an email to atomicned@gmail.com)
The following dates are with NEKO CASE (unless otherwise noted):
06/11 Long Beach, CA – Art Theatre (headline show)
06/12 Los Angeles, CA – Greek Theatre
06/14 Merced, CA – The Partisan (headline show)
07/01 Minneapolis, MN – Triple Rock Social Club
07/02 Chicago, IL – Congress Theater (with Explosions In The Sky)
07/03 Columbia, MO – Tonic (headline show)
07/08 Columbus, OH – The Basement (headline show)
07/14 Toronto, ON – Massey Hall
07/16 Grand Rapids, MI – Meijer Gardens
07/17 Indianapolis, IN – Clowes Hall
07/19 Kansas City, MO – The Uptown
07/22 Pontiac, MI – The Crofoot
07/23 Buffalo, NY – Thursdays at the Square
07/25 Nashville, TN – Ryman
07/26 Atlanta, GA – Cobb
07/28 Baltimore, MD – Ram’s Head Live
07/29 Philadelphia, PA – Kimmel Center
07/31 Pittsburgh, PA – Riverplex Amphitheatre
Listen to Yours Truly, The Commuter
New Idlewild CD – coming soon?
A recent MySpace message from Scottish-band Idlewild says that those who pre-ordered the new CD – Post-Electric Blues – should be getting it in the mail in the next week or two. I believe that the deal with the pre-order was that the band asked fans to help fund the CD and, in exchange, not only got the CD they paid for but also got their names in the liner notes. I seriously considered donating but the donation site was set up in pounds, not dollars, and I wasn’t quite sure how that worked (or if somebody from the U.S. could donate).
The band performed the album, in full, during a run of dates in May where they played over the course of 3 nights and played each of their albums.
Here is the only YouTube clip I could find of a new song, one that the person who posted it is calling “City Hall” (and it’s only about a minute and a half of the song, not the whole thing).
The Big Surprise Tour
I saw the subject line in the email and, of course, immediately opened to see just what the big surprise was. Was it the much rumored Ratt/Extreme tour?
Nope. But, nevertheless, the tour – which features Old Crow Medicine Show, Dave Rawlings Machine (w/ Gillian Welch), The Felice Brothers, and (a new favorite at AtomicNed headquarters) Justin Townes Earle – does sound pretty cool. From the press release:
“Shows will be composed of two 90-minute sets broken up by an intermission. In a free form ramshackle flow the bands and artists will share the stage, taking part in each other’s songs, resurrecting old standards, and playing newly written collaborative material as they go. Each evening is sure to be a unique experience as they all put their many combined years of musicianship and knowledge of song-craft and American music into play for these sessions.”
Unfortunately, the tour is a short one.
04 – Hampton Beach, NH @ Casino Ballroom
05 – Boston, MA @ House Of Blues
06 – New York, NY @ Beacon Theatre
07 – Philadelphia, PA @ Electric Factory
09 – Charlottesville, VA @ Charlottesville Pavilion
10 – Cary, NC @ Koka Booth Amphitheatre
12 – Louisville, KY @ Waterfront Park
13 – Nashville, TN @ Riverfront Park
14 – Knoxville, TN @ World’s Fair Park
“Changes”: The Cardigans vs Ozzy Osbourne (Black Sabbath)
I caught some Black Sabbath biography while flipping around the cable channels this weekend and consequently spent some time with Sabbath’s Vol.4 CD in the aftermath. “Changes” seems so out of line for band like Sabbath but it’s a fantastic song and I pictured it being covered a number of different ways – alt.country, with a big choir, etc. Did a quick search on YouTube and discovered that The Cardigans did a really great version of the song that I’m going to have to see if I can track down as an MP3. Also found out that Sabbath supposedly only played the song live once while Ozzy was in the band so there is no video footage of it. I settled on a more recent version of Ozzy doing the song.
Ozzy Osbourne – “Changes”
The Cardigans – “Changes”