Tampa Calling

As an addendum to my recent column, “Traveling to see music without losing your money (or your mind),” I’ve put together this small group of shows and fests that provide some good selections for music-motivated travel. If you haven’t already made travel plans this summer, here are some of your best bets.

Grizzly Bear and TV on the Radio
Saturday, June 13, The Tabernacle, Atlanta
If you wanna go, get your tickets now — it’s a Saturday night co-headlining bill featuring of two of Brooklyn’s most hip and beloved bands, both with recent albums — Grizzly’s just-released Veckatimest, TVOTR’s fantastic Dear Science from last year — so the show will most definitely sell out. I would be at this show, front row, if I wasn’t just returning from a music-motivated vacation that same Thursday.

The Decemberists (pictured) with Andrew Bird and Blind Pilot
July 18-19, Edgefield, Portland, Oregon
The chamber rock quintet only comes as close as Atlanta and plays that date on Wednesday, June 3 — not at all convenient for a road trip unless you plan on taking that week off. But the tour also includes this appealing Saturday-Sunday run in Portland, and with whistling singer/songwriter Andrew Bird, and Portland’s own indie pop duo, Blind Pilot. Read the rest of this entry »

Akron/Family
Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free

Last year, America’s indifferent masses finally acknowledged the country’s desperate need for change and elected a leader who not only represented change but inspired confidence, re-affirmed those freedoms we held so dear, and gave us back our sense of patriotism without making us feel ashamed of it. The dark times aren’t over, but we’ve filled ourselves with enough hope to get by.

You get the idea that Akron/Family is feeling the same sense of re-claimed patriotism before even hearing their new album. The cover of Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free (Dead Oceans) features the American flag, its star-spangled square replaced by a tie-dye swirl of white on faded navy, its broad stripes wrinkled and gaping in spots. But it still hangs proud and defiant, if a bit worse for wear. (Video and rating after the jump.) Read the rest of this entry »

NEW RELEASES in VINYL:
Akron/Family – Set ‘Em Wild, Set ‘Em Free
Their musical vocabulary runs deep – it’s not just Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, and The Grateful Dead that inform this record; the band feels at home and self-assured. With limited outside assistance, the trio has made a focused, powerful and unified work. This is the new psychedelic rock.

Beastie Boys – Check Your Head 4LP BOX
An ultra-deluxe 4 LP 180HQ vinyl version packaged in a fabric-wrapped hardcover coffee table book case and limited to 2000 copies.

Chimaira – The Infection Picture Disc

Elvis Costello – Complicated Shadows b/w Dirty Rotten Shame 7″
Looks really cool and retro. “Complicated Shadows” is on the album but the flip side, “Dirty Rotten Shame” is an exclusive song for this piece.  This was supposed to be out for Record Store Day, but production was delayed.

Fleet Foxes 7” – Mykonos b/w False Knight On the Road
“Mykonos” is the centerpiece of the Sun Giant EP released last spring and included with the popular vinyl version of the band’s debut, Fleet Foxes.  Beautifully packaged in a gatefold sleeve, the single is backed with a previously unreleased cover of the traditional folk ballad “False Knight On The Road,” made popular by Steeleye Span and Richard Thompson.

The Horrors – Primary Colours
Their debut, Strange House, was as controversial as it was celebrated, landing them on the cover of NME in their native England. Produced by Geoff Barrow (Portishead) and noted video director Chris Cunningham (Aphex Twin, Bjork). ‘‘Genuinely, gloriously deranged.” –The Onion

Killing Joke:
• Brighter Than A Thousand Suns
• Fire Dances
• Killing Joke
• Night Time
• Outside The Gate
• Revelations
• What’s This For?
Limited edition 2-LP sets.

Mastodon – Crack The Skye
Finally on vinyl! Regular and limited, double 45-RPM deluxe edition.

Bob Mould – Life and Times

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – Outer South
While touring in support of last year’s debut, Conor Oberst, Conor and the Mystic Valley Band began writing new songs. The result is the first album credited to this group. Oberst’s songwriting and delivery remain an engaging presence, but the addition of songs by Taylor Hollingsworth, Nik Freitas, and Jason Boesel make for a multi-textured and colorful collaboration. The Mystic Valley Band also includes Macey Taylor and Nathaniel Walcott.

Read the rest of this entry »

Pitchfork recently ran a comprehensive guide to releases coming up in 2009. I’ve scaled it down to the highlights (no box sets, re-issues, vinyl, 7″ or overseas releases) and added a few as well. Click here to see Pitchfork’s complete guide.

JANUARY

06
*The Brighton Port Authority, I Think We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat (Southern Fried)
Glasvegas, Glasvegas (Columbia)
The Gourds, Haymaker! (Yep Roc)

13
Late of the Pier, Fantasy Black Channel (Astralwerks)
Lymbyc System, Carved by Glaciers (Magic Bullet)
My Dear Disco, Dancethink (Dancethink)
Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Greatest Hits (Columbia Wal-Mart exclusive)
This Will Destroy You & Lymbyc System, Field Studies (Magic Bullet)
*Derek Trucks Band, Already Free (Sony Legacy)

20
*Andrew Bird, Noble Beast (Fat Possum)
*Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion (Domino)
Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light (Secretly Canadian)
*Bon Iver, Blood Bank EP (Jagjaguwar)
Calexico, Live From Austin, TX (New West DVD)
John Frusciante, The Empyrean (Adrenaline Music)
Ice-T, Live in Montreux 1995 (MVD DVD)
Matt and Kim, Grand (FADER)
*The Modern Skirts, All of Us in Our Night (Modern Skirts Recordings)
A.C. Newman, Get Guilty (Matador)
Ben Nichols, The Last Pale Light in the West (The Rebel Group)
Or, The Whale, Light Poles and Pines (Seany)
Public Enemy, Revolverlution Tour 2003 (MVD DVD)
*Squarepusher, Numbers Lucent EP (Warp)
*Umphrey’s McGee, Mantis (Sci Fidelity)

27
*The Bird and the Bee, Ray Guns Are Not the Future (Blue Note)
Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun (Capitol DVD)
Circlesquare, Songs About Dancing and Drugs (!K7)
*Cotton Jones, Paranoid Cocoon (Suicide Squeeze)
*Dan Deacon/Adventure, Split 12″ (Carpark)
*Franz Ferdinand, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (Domino/Epic)
Hot Chip With Robert Wyatt and Geese EP (Astralwerks)
Kylie Minogue, Boombox: The Remix Album (Parlophone)
of Montreal, Jon Brion Remix EP (Polyvinyl)
Owen, (the ep) (Polyvinyl)
Rush, Retrospective 3 (Atlantic CD/DVD)
*RZA, Afro Samurai: The Resurrection (Wu Music Group)
Duncan Sheik, Whisper House (Victor)
Bruce Springsteen, Working on a Dream (Columbia)
*The Sway Machinery, Hidden Melodies Revealed (JDub) Read the rest of this entry »