ticket giveaway: Class Actress at DC9

Class Actress is opening up for Solid Gold next Tuesday (04/06/2010) at DC9 and I'm giving away a pair of tickets. E-mail me at 5actsblog at gmail dot com with the subject "Journal Of Ardency" if you'd like a chance to win. Contest ends on Monday morning (04/05/2010) at 11:00 am ET.

Class Actress on MySpace
Class Actress on The Hype Machine
Solid Gold on MySpace
Solid Gold on The Hype Machine

contest: Melissa Auf der Maur giveaway

Yesterday Melissa Auf der Maur's multimedia project entitled Out Of Our Minds came out digitally. To celebrate, I'm giving away a MAdM t-shirt and a copy of the CD. If you'd like a chance at winning, e-mail me using the subject line "OOOM" at 5actsblog at gmail dot com. Contest ends on Friday (03/31/2010) at 1:00 pm ET.

Melissa Auf der Maur on MySpace
Melissa Auf der Maur on The Hype Machine

tonight at Black Cat: Sharon Van Etten / Megafaun

Backstage show tonight at Black Cat - Sharon Van Etten and Megafaun. Doors 9pm, tickets $10.

Sharon Van Etten on MySpace
Sharon Van Etten on The Hype Machine
Megafaun on MySpace
Megafaun on The Hype Machine

show reminder for DC9: Ribbons / City Center

Toinght at DC9 Ribbons (one of my favorite Brooklyn bands) are opening up for City Center, which features Fred Thomas from Saturday Looks Good To Me. Doors open at 8:30 and tickets are $8.

Lookbook

Minneapolis, MN

"Over And Over"

Lookbook on MySpace

Lookbook on The Hype Machine

Yukon Blonde

Vancouver, BC

"Rather Be With You"

Yukon Blonde on MySpace

Yukon Blonde on The Hype Machine

Linfinity

New York, NY

"MSG"

Linfinity on MySpace

Linfinity on The Hype Machine

Caribou

Dundas ,ON

"Odessa"

Caribou on MySpace

Caribou on The Hype Machine

Two Door Cinema Club

Bangor / Donaghadee, Northern Ireland

"Undercover Martyn (Jupiter Remix)"

Two Door Cinema Club on MySpace

Two Door Cinema Club on The Hype Machine

show reminder for tonight: Japandroids / Love Is All / Tennis System at Rock & Roll Hotel

Tennis System, Love Is All, and Japandroids all on the same stage tonight at Rock & Roll Hotel! Doors open at 8:00 and the show starts around 8:30. Tickets $15.

Polyvinyl Records

Panda Riot - Motown Glass

It appears that this Panda Riot video for "Motown Glass" has been posted on YouTube for three weeks now, but it was just brought to my attention. I'm such a slacker...

Nonetheless, I love them!

Update: Brian just let me know that they just made the video public this weekend :-)

new free mp3: Wildbirds & Peacedrums - Fight For Me(and 2 EPs on the way!!!)

Listen to the new track from Wildbirds & Peacedrums on their MySpace page or sign up for The Leaf Label's mailing list and get the "Fight For Me" mp3 for free!

http://leaf.greedbag.com/subscribe/

(More info below - taken from the Swedish duo's MySpage page)

"Fight For Me" is taken from an EP called Retina that will be released the May 10. Its companion Iris (EP nr 2) will be available the beginning of June.

Press Release for Retina EP
Artist: Wildbirds & Peacedrums
Title: Retina EP
Label: The Leaf Label (distributed by SRD)
Formats: limited edition, numbered white vinyl 12” EP only (DOCK 55 / UPC 843190007653)
Release Date: Monday, May 10, 2010
Websites: http://wildbirdsandpeacedrums.com/
http://theleaflabel.com/wildbirdsandpeacedrums

Sweden’s Wildbirds & Peacedrums return in May with Retina, the first of a pair of stunning vinyl only EPs. Its companion, Iris, will be made available in early June. Each will be individually numbered, limited edition white vinyl 12”s. The two EPs will then be compiled as an album, entitled Rivers, to be released as a double CD and download in August.

The release of Retina coincides with Wildbirds & Peacedrums’ short European tour, backed by a 12-piece choir, including a live premiere at the Pavement-curated ATP and a London show at Bishopsgate Institute. Their growing live reputation suggests these will be shows to remember. The band recently returned from a US tour with St Vincent, and wowed audiences around the world in 2009.

Retina comprises five extraordinary new songs, stratospheric in scale and emotional scope, thematically linked by the idea of water as a reflection of emotions. The songs were recorded in Iceland in just three days by Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin and the 12-strong Schola Cantorum Reykjavík Chamber Choir (who also featured on Björk’s Medulla album). The EP features a stellar cast drawn from the Bedroom Community group, recorded by Australian émigré sound artist and engineer Ben Frost, mixed by Valgeir Sigurðsson (Camille, CocoRosie, Bonnie Prince Billy, etc) and with choral arrangements by Hildur Guðnadóttir (who has collaborated with Fever Ray, Throbbing Gristle and is a member of Múm).

Mariam (vocals) and Andreas (drum and percussion) met Hildur while staying in Berlin and, as fans of her solo work, they asked her to be involved in the project as choral arranger. It was through Hildur that the Icelandic connection opened up.

“We got very lucky when we asked Hildur to write the arrangements,” Mariam explains. “The strange, empty and wet country that Is Iceland was perfect for the music, just as we’d hoped. The emotions are more subtle and dark. And we wanted to somehow collect these emotions and make them into songs that are connected. The lyrics are linked to each other and the sound is deliberate and thematic, designed to build up this special atmosphere.”

As always, Wildbirds emphasise instinct, emotional rawness and purity of expression over perfection – both EPs were recorded and mixed in a week at the end of January 2010, following a period of careful preparation and choir rehearsal. Retina was recorded in a church, with a deliberately live sound.

“It was very special, a modern church with a glass wall behind the altar,” Mariam explains. “Behind the glass was a giant cross standing in a pool and lit up by green lights, and I’m sure that affected the sound.”

"Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood" opens the EP, with a majestic, celestial rise and fall of choir voices and Mariam’s passionate, soaring, reverb-drenched lead vocal. Andreas’s percussion ranges from first raindrops through to the high-hat hiss of a storm at night. It is an immense track.

“It was amazing, the feeling of other voices lifting my voice and letting me float on top of it,” Mariam says. “Normally I take my power from a more grounded place, but when another voice layer was added, I could somehow rely on them and just sing what my emotions told me to. Not forcing anything. This experience gave me a safe and warm feeling, being a part of something bigger, a collective force.”

"Tiny Holes In This World" is sparse, with the percussion echoey and backwards-sounding, the sprightly vocal interplay from the choir sending spine tingles. "Under Land And Over Sea" is solemn and reverent, and the drums are entirely absent. They reappear with characteristically vivid, unpredictable energy on "Fight For Me," a tower of song with tremendous emotional power. "Peeling Off The Layers" ends the EP, erect with an almost military tattoo, gales of angelic choir and Mariam singing a deeply confessional water-spiritual.

Retina is a powerful piece of work, marking Wildbirds & Peacedrums as artists thrillingly bold and hungry to test the limits of their talent.

12” Tracklisting:
A1. Bleed Like There Was No Other Flood
A2. Tiny Holes In This World
A3. Under Land And Over Sea
B1. Fight For Me
B2. Peeling Off The Layers

European Tour Dates:
05/14 - ATP Festival - Minehead, United Kingdom
05/15 - Bishopsgate Institute - London, United Kingdom
05/16 - Café De La Danse - Paris, France
05/17 - Dampfzentrale - Basel, Switzerland
05/19 - Babel - Malmö, Sweden
05/20 - Jazzhouse - Copenhagen, Denmark
05/21 - Blå - Oslo, Norway
05/22 - Södra Teatern - Stockholm, Sweden

These New Purtains - Attack Music

Foals - The Orient

Yacht - The Afterlife

Massive Attack - Saturday Come Slow

A Place To Bury Strangers - Ego Death

show reminder for DC9 tonight: Fuax Slang / Phil And The Osophers / A Sunny Day In Glasgow

Another spectacular lineup tonight at DC9 - Faux Slang, Phil And The Osophers, and A Sunny Day In Glasgow. Doors 8:30, tickets $10.

The Gossip - Pop Goes The World

Jamie Lidell - The Ring

Solid Gold - Matter Of Time

Lookbook - Over And Over

I Am The Dot - Love Song For Camus

ticket giveaway for DC9: Harper Blynn / Drink Up Buttercup

Harper Blynn and Drink Up Buttercup are playing an early show tomorrow evening at DC9 - doors open at 6pm and it's all ages. If you'd like a shot at winning a pair of tickets, e-mail me at 5actsblog at gmail dot com with the subject line "Loneliest Generation." Contest ends tomorrow (03/27) at 12:00 pm ET.

Harper Blynn on MySpace
Harper Blynn on The Hype Machine
Drink Up Buttercup on MySpace
Drink Up Buttercup on The Hype Machine

Kisses

Los Angeles, CA

"Bermuda"

Kisses on MySpace

Kisses on The Hype Machine

Street Hero

Brooklyn, NY

"Brooklyn Boys"

Street Hero on MySpace

Street Hero on The Hype Machine

Lali Puna

Weilheim, Germany

"Remember"

Lali Puna on MySpace

Lali Puna on The Hype Machine

Birds & Batteries

San Francisco, CA

"Out In The Woods"

Birds & Batteries on MySpace

Birds & Batteries on The Hype Machine

Solid Gold

Minneapolis, MN

"One In A Million"

Solid Gold on MySpace

Solid Gold on The Hype Machine

tomorrow night at Black Cat: Jukebox The Ghost / Tally Hall / Skybox

Local favorites Jukebox The Ghost are headlining tomorrow night at Black Cat Hopefully we'll be getting to hear some new tunes from these guys! Skybox and Tally Hall are also on the bill and tickets are $13. It's a mainstage show with doors opening at 8pm.

Jukebox The Ghost on MySpace
Jukebox The Ghost on The Hype Machine

ticket giveaway: Dum Dum Girls at DC9

Sub Pop labelmates Dum Dum Girls and Male Bonding are at DC9 tomorrow night with openers Detox Retox and I'm pretty surprised this show isn't sold out yet. I've got a pair of tickets to give away and if you'd like a chance to get 'em, e-mail me (5actsblog at gmail dot com) using "Pay For Me" as the subject line. I'll pick a winner at 9:00 am ET tomorrow morning (03/25/2010).

Side note: Pay For Me is the title of the of the Dum Dum Girls / Male Bonding split 7" that will be released on April 17 in honor of Record Store Day. Yay!

Dum Dum Girls on MySpace
Dum Dum Girls on The Hype Machine
Male Bonding on MySpace
Male Bonding on The Hype Machine

show reminder for tonight: Toro Y Moi and The Ruby Suns at Black Cat

Backstage show tonight at Black Cat. Doors open at 9pm and tickets are $10.

Tori Y Moi on MySpace
Toro Y Moi on The Hype Machine
The Ruby Suns on MySpace
The Ruby Suns on The Hype Machine

vinyl giveaway: Sade - Soldier Of Love

Sade's Soldier Of Love was well worth the wait. The vinyl version came out yesterday and I've got a copy to give away. If you'd like a chance to win it, e-mail me at 5actsblog at gmail dot com with "Adu" as the subject. Contest ends tomorrow (03/25/2010) at 9:00 pm ET. Good luck!

Sade on MySpace
Sade on The Hype Machine

Tanlines

Brooklyn, NY
I'm so infatuated with Tanlines right now... the perfect music to kick off Spring and sweep us right into Summer.

"Real Life"
Tanlines on MySpace
Tanlines on The Hype Machine

CANT

Brooklyn, NY

"Ghosts (Class Actress Remix)"

CANT on The Hype Machine

We Are The World

Los Angeles, CA

"Clay Stones"

We Are The World on MySpace

We Are The World on The Hype Machine

French Horn Rebellion

Brooklyn, NY

"Up All Night"

French Horn Rebellion on MySpace

French Horn Rebellion on The Hype Machine

Nedry

London, England

"A42"

Nedry on MySpace

Nedry on The Hype Machine

ticket giveaway: Toro Y Moi and The Ruby Suns at Black Cat

This seems to be a great week for shows in DC. Wednesday night welcomes Toro Y Moi and The Ruby Suns to the Backstage at Black Cat. I'm kind of surprised it's not a Mainstage show, but they don't ask me for my recommendation on such matters. Anyway, I've got a pair of tickets to give away to this event. Just e-mail me with "Blessa" as the subject to 5actsblog at gmail dot com. I'll select a winner randomly by 9pm tomorrow (03/23/2010). Good luck!

Side note: I'm already certain that The Ruby Sun's new album Fight Softly will be near the top of my favorite albums at the end of this year. So good!

Toro Y Moi on MySpace
Toro Y Moi on The Hype Machine
The Ruby Suns on MySpace
The Ruby Suns on The Hype Machine

show reminder for tomorrow night: Seabear at Black Cat

One of my favorite folky pop Icelandic bands will be waltzing into DC tomorrow night. Seabear will be playing a Backstage show at Black Cat with openers Via Tania and Soley. Doors open at 9pm and tickets are just $12.

Seabear on MySpace
Seabear on The Hype Machine

Hair And Aino - All That Remains