CYHSY Drummer's GN'R Tribute Band Calls It Quits

Says Mr. Brownstone's website, "Swaying back and forth and beckoning the crowd, Sean has mastered Axl's patented stage moves. Sean's vocal ability allows him the range to flawlessly mimic every element of Axl's voice, from the low grumbles to the high-pitched wails."

Alas, come this July, those low grumbles and high-pitched wails will only be heard in the shower, as Mr. Brownstone are hanging up their leather and flannel and calling it quits. They have two final shows scheduled: June 10 at the Bowery Ballroom in New York City and July 15 at the Paradise in Boston.

"We've claimed to be playing our 'final shows' more often than Axl has claimed that Chinese Democracy is coming out," Greenhalgh told Pitchfork via email. "But this time it's for real.

"We've decided to call it quits for a few reasons. We never intended this band to go on for as long as it did. It started off as a college joke and grew into a successful piece of regional musical theater. We've been trying to quit for the past five years, but it's just been more fun to get paid to get drunk and play dress up than to not. Another reason is that we've all got original projects or real jobs now that require too much of our time."

As for how his time as Axl has affected his experience with CYHSY, Greenhalgh said, "I think in the early days with Clap, the experience of playing in front of larger crowds with Brownstone helped out a bunch as far as nerves were concerned. (There was a time when Brownstone's draw surpassed that of CYHSY.) You get comfortable being in front of people, or at least familiar with it.

But don't expect to hear hair-metal influences in Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. "I tried to get the band to cover "Patience" one night at the Troubador in LA, but they weren't having any of it," Greenhalgh said. "I did manage to slip in the opening beat to "Paradise City" before the encore as an homage to my adolescent heroes.

"GN'R are in no way an inspiration for CYHSY, but the other guys would grudgingly admit that Appetite for Destruction is at least a good album. I always thought (at least early) GN'R had a pretty punk approach to the music for a bunch of cock-rockers. Izzy and Duff learned their instruments about a year before they recorded Appetite, but both wrote great, important parts for that album. That's definitely an approach that suits me. You do the best you can within your given limitations."

So what's Greenhalgh's take on the recent resurrection of Guns n' Roses? "I heard a bunch of leaked demos while we were in Europe this winter. As someone who can say they love Use Your Illusion II with a straight face, it was shocking to hear how bad the new demos were. Shocking. I actually did get to see the new GN'R at Hammerstein Ballroom when they were in NYC a couple of weeks ago. Axl actually sounded pretty good, but the new band lacks the bluesy looseness and sense of danger of the old one. You get the sense that these guys get fined if they fuck up. I'll take a coked-up, drunk out of his mind Slash any day over these guys. Either that, or I'm just not 12 years old anymore. Not sure."

With Mr. Brownstone out of the picture, it's full steam ahead for Greenhalgh and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. "The Clap is headed into the studio for a bit starting next week," he said. "We're playing Bonnaroo in the States and then we're headed all over the place (Europe, Australia, Japan) in July. Beyond that, nothing to report."

So there you have it.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah dates:

06-17 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-29 Roskilde, Denmark - Roskilde Festival
06-30 Werchter, Belgium - Rock Werchter Festival
07-01 St. Gallen, Switzerland - St. Gallen Festival
07-02 Montreaux, Switzerland - Montreux Jazz Festival
07-05 Kristiansand, Norway - Quart Festival
07-07 London, England - London Forum
07-08 Balado, Scotland - T in the Park
07-09 Naas, Ireland - Oxegen Festival
07-20 Melbourne, Australia - TBA
07-22 Sydney, Australia - TBA
07-23 Byron Bay, Australia - Splendour in the Grass
07-29 Yuzawa-machi, Japan - Fuji Rock Festival
08-25 Paris, France - Rock en Seine
08-26 Reading, England - Reading Festival
08-27 Leeds, England - Leeds Festival
09-28 New York, NY - Central Park

As previously reported, CYHSY frontman Alec Ounsworth will perform at New York City's Beacon Theatre on June 23 as part of the "We're Doing It for Love" benefit concert for Love's Arthur Lee. Robert Plant, Ryan Adams, Yo La Tengo, Ian Hunter, Nils Lofgren, and Garland Jeffreys will also perform.

Decemberists Announce New LP Title, Release Date

The band is currently working on the album in their hometown of Portland, Oregon, honing an LP out of the 22 songs they've written, some of which are over 10 (!) minutes long. "This one's going to be really good, though," the email stated. "Undoubtedly the best thing we've done to date. And while that might smack of hyperbole ('didn't they say that about the last record?,' you well may be thinking...), we can guarantee that it, at the very least, will be decidedly above average."

That's comforting to hear.

A fall tour is also planned. For now, the Decemberists only have two live dates scheduled. The first will take place June 16 at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado. Neko Case, Drive-By Truckers, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, John Prine, Bonnie Raitt, and Barenaked Ladies will also appear, along with bluegrass titans like Jerry Douglas, Tony Rice, Del McCoury, and Bela Fleck. A jam session involving the Decemberists and other festival participants is in the works.

In an email to a festival organizer, Decemberist Chris Funk wrote, "I'm a big fat bluegrass geek stuck inside a rock band, help!!!...The real reason we're coming is so that I can get Jerry Douglas to sign my square neck [guitar] which I play, as he is one of my heroes!!!"

The second show happens August 23 at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle as part of their ZooTunes series. The Decemberists at a zoo! How cool is that?

Funk also mentioned that he's expecting his first child this summer. The wee Funky one already has a built-in playmate, as frontman Colin Meloy and his girlfriend, longtime Decemberists illustrator Carson Ellis, welcomed Henry Ellis Meloy into the world back in February.

Wilco, BSS, New Pornos Play Ottawa Fest

The whole thing takes place on six stages at Ottawa's City Hall Festival Plaza and various other downtown locations. Last year's fest (which included the Black Eyed Peas, Neko Case, and loads more) brought out a respectable 220,000 fans. Which is, like, twice the population of Canada, or something. Single-day and full-fest passes are available now, and they're pretty durn cheap given the exchange rate.

A few kid-tested and/or P4k-approved highlights from this year's fest include: Broken Social Scene, the New Pornographers, the Fiery Furnaces, Wilco, Feist, Calexico, Jamie Lidell, Bell Orchestre, Metric, Holy Fuck, Nelly Furtado, Cadence Weapon, Controller.Controller, Jason Collett, Great Lake Swimmers, the M's, Amadou & Mariam, Seu Jorge, Rihanna, Kathleen Edwards, Mark Kozelek, the Stills, Son Volt, Hackensaw Boys, Konono No. 1, Ani DiFranco, Hawthorne Heights, Thornetta Davis, Rosanne Cash, KC's Boogie Blast ft. KC & the Sunshine Band (?!), Gloria Gaynor, Tavares, and, of course, Sister Sledge.

For a full schedule of performers and ticket information, click on that fancy-shmancy link below.

Mr. Lif Readies Mo'Mega

Mo'Mega's 11 tracks feature guest spots by Aesop Rock, El-P, Murs, Akrobatik, and Blueprint. Meanwhile, behind the decks, Nick Toth, fellow Bostonian Edan, and Mr. Lif himself produce a track apiece to supplement the beats El-P provides. Sure, it's insular Def Jux firepower, but with miles of rhymes on the tip of his tongue and one apocalyptic LP already under Lif's belt, let's not say insular like it's a bad thing.

Mo'tracks:

01 Collapse
02 Ultra-Mega
03 Brothaz
04 The Fries
05 Take, Hold, Fire feat. Aesop Rock and El-P
06 Murs Iz My Manager feat. Murs
07 Washitup!
08 Long Distance
09 Mo' Mega feat. Akrobatik and Blueprint
10 Lookin' In
11 For You

Being the consummate crowd-pleaser he is, Mr. Lif will also mount a substantial tour in support of the new album's release, bringing along Cage (who must have felt left out when he first copped Mo'Mega's tracklist) for good measure. The festivities kick off in Baltimore on June 16 and end a month and a half later.

Mo'dates:

06-16 Baltimore, MD - Sonar *
06-17 New York, NY - The Bowery Ballroom *
06-18 Philadelphia, PA - TLA *
06-20 Toronto, Ontario - Reverb *
06-21 Columbus, OH - Little Brothers *
06-22 Cleveland Heights, OH - Grog Shop *
06-23 Ann Arbor, MI - Blind Pig *
06-24 Chicago, IL - The Abbey *
06-25 Buffalo, NY - Buffalo Icon *
06-27 Boston, MA - Middle East *
06-28 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground *
06-29 Northampton, MA - Pearl Street *
07-15 Vancouver, British Columbia - Richard's on Richards *
07-16 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
07-17 Bellingham, WA - Nightlight *
07-18 Portland, OR - Berbatis *
07-19 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall *
07-21 San Francisco, CA - Slims *
07-23 Los Angeles, CA - The Knitting Factory *
07-24 Phoenix, AZ - The Club House *
07-25 Albuquerque, NM - TBA *
07-26 Durango, CO - Abby Theater *
07-27 Denver, CO - TBA *
07-28 Lawrence, KS - TBA *

* with Cage

Meat Puppets Reunite

With a sound that Curt described as "sonic pyramids made out of garbage," the album is in the early stages of production, and will be the follow-up to 2000's Golden Lies-- which Curt made sans drummer Derrick Bostrom and after his brother's exile from the band due to complications from heroin use (which later included jail time for assault and getting shot).

Past indiscretions aside, however, Curt assured Billboard.com that his younger sibling is once again walking the straight and narrow-- well, hopefully at least walking-- saying of their recent exchanges, "I haven't seen my brother since like 1998, but I'm talking to him a lot. He's [been] clean for more than two years and he's all raring to go. Cris' resurrection-- it's like a Lazarus-type thing. I was just like, 'If Cris is back, I know his frame of mind.'"

"If he's upright and walking," Curt continued, "it's hard to knock him down."

Tim Alexander of Primus is expected to sit in on the drum kit (replacing an absent Bostrom, who declined the reunion stab), and while a full tracklist hasn't been nailed down yet, new songs expected for the disc include "Enemy Love Song", "I'm Not You", and, appropriately, "New Leaf". As the elder Kirkwood explained, "I've got the album written already. It's epic. It's big Meat Puppets stuff. I played some of [it] for [Cris] over the phone yesterday. I don't think this is going to be some sort of 'toss off' album." That's the spirit!

Predictably, no official release date has been set yet, but the band has noted that they'll record the disc themselves before shopping it around to labels, Mused Curt, "It's fun to see where this will fit in, in this present state of the business," saying also, "The fact that I don't have a contract is actually better, because I don't need to hear anybody else's opinion about the Meat Puppets at this point in my life." How he'll determine where the new record fits without hearing opinions is anybody's guess.

Following the recording process, expect a tour-- and, invariably, an onslaught of opinions.

Cex Gives Us Actual Fucking

Besides taking Cex (aka Rjyan Kidwell) a year and a half to complete, the new LP features contributions from the infamously ubiquitous Tim Kinsella (Make Believe, Joan of Arc, caP'n Jazz, etc.), former D-Plan guitarist Jason Caddell, Aloha/JoA percussionist Cale Parks, Bobby Burg of Love of Everything, Mark Shirazi and Jason Buehler of Nice Nice, and Kidwell's wifey and former Milemarker member, Roby Newton.

In a press release, Cex described the lofty aim of the new record: "Actual Fucking hopes to re-establish that breaking rules is not only fun and sexy, but also totally necessary to determine what is important art and what is just more entertainment product. And it's not hard, nor does it require a single bit of this kind of dry, expository rhetoric. The record itself captures all of these heady themes in one simple philosophy: you just gotta follow your boner."

Kidwell wasn't so clear on whether a successful marriage of art and product is possible, so let's hope the album addresses that as well. As for the sound, he says, "comparisons could be made to the Talking Heads' Remain in Light, because we were definitely trying to bite that album, but one might put it in the popular album-description format by calling it, '[Blood Sugar Sex Magik]-era Red Hot Chili Peppers crossed with [David Bowie's] Low,' or, 'a full-length Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush collaboration with a for-real money shot.'" Um, that's kinda gross.

Tracklist:

01 Baltimore
02 Denton
03 Chapel Hill
04 Ybor City
05 Covington
06 Chicago
07 Los Angeles
08 Tucumcari

Haven't run for the hills yet? Cex will be taking his popular live show on the road this summer to support the release of Actual Fucking, with one of the LP's collaborators, Love of Everything, supporting. Quite adept at the fine art of crowd confrontation, Cex will be looking to break boundaries, rules, and regulations, so either submit, or get ready to put your self-defense class training to work.

All across America, people will experience Cex:

06-07 Atlanta, GA - The Drunken Unicorn *
06-08 New Orleans, LA - Republic *
06-09 Houston, TX - Rudyard's Pub *
06-10 Austin, TX - Emo's *
06-11 Denton, TX - Hailey's *
06-13 Phoenix, AZ - Modified Arts *
06-14 Los Angeles, CA - The Fold in the Derby *
06-15 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill *
06-16 Eureka, CA - The Pearl Lounge *
06-17 Portland, OR - Towne Lounge *
06-18 Seattle, WA - Chop Suey *
06-19 Missoula, MT - Higgin's Alley *
06-21 Fargo, ND - The Aquarium *
06-22 Saint Paul, MN - Turf Club *
06-23 Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club *
06-24 Chicago, IL - Schubas *
06-25 Lansing, MI - Mac's Bar *
06-26 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Tavern *
06-27 Pittsburgh, PA - Garfield Art Works *
06-28 Rochester, NY - Bug Jar *
06-29 Boston, MA - Middle East *
06-30 Brooklyn, NY - Asterisk Art Project *
07-01 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head Club *

* with Love of Everything

Loren Connors Given Box Set Treatment

Night Through: Singles & Collected Works, 1976-2004 will be released on June 6, and adds up to over 3 and a half hours of Connors' distinctive solo guitar work as well as a couple of tracks from Connors' band Haunted House. But even if you already somehow own most or all of the previously released tracks, the comp boasts the remastering talents of Jim O'Rourke, who worked his wicked mastering skills on the original tapes.

Night Through's first two CDs focus on Connors' many 7"s on labels such as Road Cone, Union Pole, Table of Elements, Menlo Park, St. Joan, and of course Family Vineyard. And though CDs one and two contain a few scattered unreleased songs (including a 1959 rendition of "Peace" by Connors' mother Mary Mazzacane), the third CD really packs the unheard recordings with 13 such tracks ranging from as early as 1998 to as late as 2004. As if all this rounding up from the vaults weren't enough, Family Vineyard seems to have also been diligent in collecting tracks scattered on different compilations. All in all, don't hold your breath for a more comprehensive look at Connors' non-album work coming out anytime soon.

Or who knows, maybe these'll make a run on the charts, especially "Deirdre of the Sorrows":

CD 1:

01 Come on in My Kitchen *
02-04 Ribbon o' Blues 7"
05-10 Mother & Son 7"
11-15 Five Points 7"
16-24 The Stations of the Cross 2x7"
25-28 Deirdre of the Sorrows 7"
29-34 Battle of Clontarf *

CD 2:

01 Betty Mae *
02 Night Through
03-05 Exile 7"
06 The End, The Afternoon, The Light 7"
07-08 Desire 7"
09 Adonais 7"
10 Spirit 7"
11 In a Street Full of Rain 7"
12 Air *
13 Oh Bonny Doone *
14 Woman Taken in Adultery
15 For NY 9/11/01 CDR Single
16 Pretty as Ever
17 The Departing of a Dream Vol. 4 *
18 Moon Gone Down 7"
19 Peace (by Mary Mazzacane) *

CD 3:

01 Why We Came Together
02 Suzanne's Rain
03 I've Had Trouble, I've Had Joy
04 Untitled *
05 Haunted House CDR Single
06 Shadows
07 Only When You Sleep *
08 I Love You Porgy *
09 Star of Bethlehem pt. 1 *
10 Star of Bethlehem pt. 2 *
11 Earth *
12 Stars *
13 Night in Vain *
14 Untitled *
15 Untitled *
16 Untitled *
17 For Miles Davis *
18 For Miles pt. 2 *

* previously unreleased

Connors has two performances scheduled for the summer: August 14 at Tonic in New York City, where he will perform a guitar duo with Tetuzi Akiyama, and an appearance at Eyedrum in Atlanta, Georgia on August 31 as part of the Table of the Elements festival.

The Vanishing, Malaria! Members Are Autonervous

Autonervous mixes two undergrounds, Berlin 1980 (Koster) and San Francisco 2000 (Evans). There's an Amanda Lear cover ("Gold"), a German-language reworking of the Vanishing's "Still Lifes" ("Still Kaltes") and, natürlich, lyrics about love 'n chains.

Tracklist:

01 Anchors Aweigh
02 Don't Wait
03 Still Kaltes
04 Hello Lovers
05 Gold
06 Sax New Age
07 Easter Bunny
08 Why Shiver
09 Prescription

A TBA track from the above will be included on Girl Monster, the upcoming compilation from Chicks on Speed's Alex Murray-Leslie. The collection will have over 60 rollerskate jams from female post-punk/electroclashers. Sweet Jesus.

Autonervous have scheduled "record release parties" throughout the summer. Thus far, they've gigged everything from large festivals to eensy museums, so think outside the box, kids.

Wrecked stockings:

06-08 Stockholm, Sweden - Kaskelot
06-26 Paris, France - Le Klub
09-01 New York, NY - TBA *
09-07 San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill
09-08 Los Angeles, CA - Red Light
09-16 Puerto Rico - TBA

* Drop Dead Festival, featuring Ausgang, the Quakes, Cinema Strange, Bohémien, Siiiiiiiii, and more

Lily Allen Debut Album Revealed

NME.com reports that Allen will drop her crazy-anticipated debut, Alright, Still, on July 17 via Regal/Parlophone. Can't contain yourself that long? Lily hits us with the single "Smile" on July 3. An unconfirmed tracklist is floating around the internet, and it looks a lil' something like this:

01 Smile
02 Knock 'Em Out
03 LDN
04 Everythings Just Wonderful
05 Not Big
06 Friday Night
07 Shame for You
08 Littlest Things
09 Take What You Take
10 Friend of Mine
11 Alfie

In addition to being an irresistible songstress, Lily is also a budding DJ. She made a splash with her first mixtape, and now she's back with the sequel, which you, savvy interweb guru, may download here. Then get ready for some live Lily action as the daughter of actor/comedian/Fat Les member Keith Allen takes to the road. Gal could well be selling out Wembley Arena by this time next year, so our UK brethren would do well to catch her now, at one of these relatively intimate club gigs and/or fest dates:

06-24 Nottingham, England - Stealth Vs. The Rescue Rooms
06-28 Leeds, England - Bad Sneakers
06-30 Sheffield, England - Plug
07-17 London, England - Bush Hall
07-18 London, England - Bush Hall
08-06 Ledbury, England - Eastnor Castle Deer Park (The Big Chill)
08-18 Huntingdon, England - Secret Garden Party
08-26 Cardiff, Wales - Coopers Field (Get Loaded in the Park Festival)
08-27 London, England - Clapham Common (Get Loaded in the Park Festival)

Please take a moment now to pause and appreciate that we made it through this entire news blurb without a single gild-the-Lily joke. Standards, my friends, standards.

Devendra Banhart and Magic Numbers Cancel Tour

It was announced yesterday that Banhart has canceled five shows, including two dates in North Carolina (magic number: 12th state to join the Union). According to Banhart's publicist, the decision was made two days ago when the [four] Magic Numbers, now recording in New York, decided they were behind schedule with the follow-up to their self-titled debut of blasé power pop jingles, released last year on Capitol Records (magic number: July 5).

Banhart has no plans for recording a new album at the moment, primarily because he will be touring throughout the summer and fall. Well, obviously not all summer, thanks to the Magic Numbers.

The canceled shows, in magically numeric order:

06-06 Alexandria, VA - Birchmere
06-12 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
06-14 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel
06-15 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
06-18 Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley

Banhart (magic number: 14,782 MySpace friends) will still play Bonnaroo, the four-day festival on a 700-acre farm in Tennessee (magic number: 16th state), and it appears the Numbers (magic number: a mere 13,245 MySpace friends) will make that date as well. But they might as well forget eclipsing Banhart's cyber-friendships if they keep getting behind schedule and skipping gigs in North Cack. Even with a lead singer named Romeo.

Banhart will be touring the world (magic number: 6,620,819,565 peeps, give or take a lot) this summer, including a stop at our very own Pitchfork Music Festival. Plus, his latest set of drawings opens at Galleria Emilio Mazzoli in Modena, Italy on June 24, and he's curating a festival at L.A.'s El Cid July 18-22, at which he may or may not perform. And who knows where Lil' Miss Li-Lo fits in this whole itinerary? Oh, snap!

Devendra's dates, also in magically numeric order:

06-16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-29 Berlin, Germany - Postbahnhof
06-30 Poznan, Poland - Malta Festival
07-02 Moscow, Russia - Apelsin
07-04 Athens, Greece - Gagarin 205
07-06 Tel Aviv, Israel - Barby Club
07-07 Tel Aviv, Israel - Barby Club
07-30 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival #
08-12 Tokyo, Japan - Summer Sonic
08-13 Osaka, Japan - Summer Sonic
09-01 Stradbally, Ireland - Electric Picnic Festival
09-02 Glasgow, Scotland - ABC
09-03 Aberdeen, Scotland - Lemon Tree
09-05 Newcastle, England - Newcastle University
09-06 Leeds, England - Leeds Metropolitan University
09-08 Manchester, England - Manchester University
09-09 Nottingham, England - The Festival Hall
09-10 Isle of Wight, England - Bestival
09-30 Baltimore, MD - Sonar
10-27 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - Museum of Modern Art

# with Os Mutantes, Mission of Burma, Yo La Tengo, Spoon, Aesop Rock, Jens Lekman, the National, Danielson, Tapes 'n Tapes, Diplo, Dominik Eulberg, Glenn Kotche, Ada, Tarantula A.D., CSS, Bonde Do Role, Jeff Parker/Nels Cline Quartet

Magic number: 10-4, over and out.

Built to Spill Launch U.S. Trek

After having to postpone their trek due to Martsch detaching a retina (presumably during an intense pick-up game of b-ball), Built to Spill are back on track for a mammoth four-month journey across the United States. The macro-tour kicks off this Saturday, June 3 in the band's hometown of Boise, ID at a benefit concert for the Buffalo Field Campaign, an organization working to prevent the slaughter of Yellowstone National Park's free-roaming bison. Hey, you know what? Doug Martsch's solos kind of sound like free-roaming bison.

After that, Martsch's quartet slowly moves down the Northwest and into Southern California, performing a few multi-night stints along the way. From there, it's across the Midwest, with a stop at Lollapalooza before moving to the East Coast. After a few more multi-night stands, it's on to the South before wrapping things up with handful of dates throughout Texas.

America in reverse:

06-03 Boise, ID - Big Easy Concert House
06-13 Seattle, WA - Showbox
06-14 Seattle, WA - Showbox
06-15 Seattle, WA - Showbox
06-16 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
06-17 Portland, OR - Crystal Ballroom
06-19 Eugene, OR - WOW Hall
06-21 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
06-22 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
06-23 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
06-24 San Francisco, CA - Slim's
06-25 Santa Cruz, CA - Catalyst
06-27 San Diego, CA - House of Blues
06-28 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour
06-29 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour
06-30 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour
07-01 Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour
07-06 Tucson, AZ - The Rialto
07-07 Tempe, AZ - Marquee Theatre
07-08 Albuquerque, NM - Launch Pad
07-09 Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep
07-10 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
07-11 Boulder, CO - Fox Theatre
07-12 Aspen, CO - Belly Up
07-13 Salt Lake City, UT - The Depot
08-05 Chicago, IL - Grant Park (Lollapalooza)
09-12 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
09-13 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
09-14 Madison, WI - Barrymore Theatre
09-15 Chicago, IL - Metro
09-16 Chicago, IL - Metro
09-17 St. Louis, MO - Mississippi Nights
09-18 Columbia, MO - The Blue Note
09-20 Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck
09-21 Tulsa, OK - Cain's Ballroom
09-22 Little Rock, AR - Vino's
09-23 Memphis, TN - Young Ave. Deli
09-24 Nashville, TN - City Hall
09-26 Indianapolis, IN - The Vogue
09-27 Columbus, OH - Newport Music Hall
09-28 Detroit, MI - St. Andrew's Hall
09-29 Pittsburgh, PA - Mr. Smalls
09-30 Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
10-01 Burlington, VT - Higher Ground
10-02 Boston, MA - The Roxy
10-04 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
10-05 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
10-06 New York, NY - Irving Plaza
10-07 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10-08 Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero
10-09 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-10 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
10-11 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10-12 Carrboro, NC - Cat's Cradle
10-13 Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse
10-14 Athens, GA - 40 Watt Club
10-15 Birmingham, AL - Zydeco
10-17 New Orleans, LA - House of Blues
10-18 Houston, TX - Warehouse Live
10-19 Dallas, TX - Gypsy Tea Room
10-20 Austin, TX - Stubb's
10-21 Lubbock, TX - Jake's Backroom

Matmos Plan Summer, Fall Shows

On August 13 at the Bleeding Edge festival at the Montalvo Arts Center in San Jose, California, Matmos will pair with harpist Zeena Parkins for a collaborative performance. (Björk friends unite!) The festival also features Yo La Tengo, Black Dice, Richard Chartier, William Basinski, Brightblack Morninglight, and an Isis/Tim Hecker collabo sure to melt eardrums from here to oceania.

Oh yeah, and they'll also be playing the Pitchfork Music Festival. Duh.

We hope Matmos' live show involves "rhinestones on a dinner plate," "five gallon bucket of oatmeal," "amplified crayfish nerve tissue," or any of the other doohickeys sampled in their music. Add some pyro and a fog machine and we're talking about the best show ever.

Down with the found sound:

06-04 New York, NY - World Financial Center (Bang on a Can Marathon) *
06-24 Paris, France - La Villette Electronique
06-30 Nantes, France - Scopitone
07-29 Chicago, IL - Union Park (Pitchfork Music Festival) #
08-13 San Jose, CA - Montalvo Arts Center (Bleeding Edge Festival) ^
10-06 Columbus, OH - Wexner Center *
10-07 Pittsburgh, PA - New Hazlett Theatre *
10-08 Toronto, Ontario - Music Gallery *
10-09 Toronto, Ontario - Music Gallery *
10-10 Montreal, Quebec - Le National *
10-11 Philadelphia, PA - International House *
10-12 Boston, MA - Museum of Fine Arts *$
10-13 New York, NY - Thalia Theater at Symphony Space *
10-14 New York, NY - Thalia Theater at Symphony Space *
10-17 Los Angeles, CA - Jensen RecCenter
10-18 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall %
10-20 Portland, OR - Holocene %
10-21 Seattle, WA - Triple Door %

* with So Percussion
# with Silver Jews, the Walkmen, the Futureheads, Ted Leo/Pharmacists, Art Brut, Destroyer, Mountain Goats, Band of Horses, Man Man, Chin Up Chin Up, Hot Machines, A-Trak, Matthew Dear, Spank Rock, Ghislain Poirier, Tyondai Braxton, Chicago Underground Duo, Flosstradamus, 8 Bold Souls, more
^ with Zeena Parkins
$ with Keith Fullerton Whitman
% with Walter Kitundu

Sculpture and portraiture by Schmidt and Daniel will be on display at L.A.'s Roski MFA Gallery from June 6 to June 23 as part of the Ovrcast Collective's Ovrcast Festival. On June 6 at the Vanguard, the festival will host a show featuring performances by High on Fire, Oxbow, John Wiese, Wires on Fire, DJ Swamp, Indian Jewelry, Gregg Kowalsky and many more.

Do you have a news tip for us? Anything crazy happen at a show you attended recently? Do you have inside info on the bands we cover? Is one of your favorite artists (that's not somebody you know personally) releasing a new record you'd like to see covered? You will remain completely anonymous, unless we are given your express permission to reveal your identity. (Please note that publicists, managers, booking agents, and other artist representatives are generally exempt from this rule, but will also be granted anonymity if requested.)