Seattle’s own Tacocat are set to release This Mess Is a Place, their new full-length album on LP/CD/Digital and Cassette on Friday, May 3rd. The sparkly new album is their first for Sub Pop, and heralds a more pop-driven and ebullient direction in their sound.
Today, Stereogum premiered ”Hologram” (as seen here), the second single from the highly-anticipated record. “Just remember if you can, power is a hologram,” lead singer Emily Nokes intones on the track, which smuggles a discourse on power dynamics and the nature of reality inside of a candy-colored pop-rock coating.
Pre-orders are available now from Sub Pop Megamart, with limited Loser Editions on jade green vinyl. Read more about Tacocat and This Mess is a Place right over here.
Tacocat have also announced a run of 2019 North American tour dates. Full list of performances is as follows:
May 09 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club May 10 - Milwaukee, WI - Cactus Club May 11 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall May 12 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Pyramid Scheme May 13 - Pittsburgh, PA - Club Cafe May 15 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair May 17 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg May 18 - Philadelphia, PA - Boot & Saddle May 19 - Washington, D.C. - U Street Music Hall May 21 - Durham, NC - The Pinhook May 22 - Atlanta, GA - The Drunken Unicorn May 23 - Nashville, TN - The High Watt May 24 - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway May 25 - Kansas City, MO - The Record Bar Jun. 08 - Seattle, WA - The Showbox at the Market Jun. 12 - Spokane, WA - The Bartlett Jun. 13 - Boise, ID - Neurolux Jun. 14 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court Jun. 15 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge Jun. 17 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada Jun. 18 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall Jun. 19 - Austin, TX - Barracuda Jun. 21 - Sante Fe, NM - Meow Wolf Jun. 22 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar Jun. 23 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah Jun. 25 - Los Angeles, CA - The Bootleg Theater Jun. 26 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel Jun. 28 - Portland, OR - Aladdin Theater
The band will perform Our Endless Numbered Days in its entirety (and with an orchestra) in Cincinnati, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.
Sub Pop and Iron & Wine celebrate the 15th anniversary of Our Endless Numbered Days with the release of a newly expanded deluxe edition on CD/2xLP/DL and it’s in stores now. This version features eight previously never before heard demos, new artwork, and a 12-page booklet including liner notes from author Amanda Petrusich. You can hear the demo version of ”Passing Afternoon” here.
Iron & Wine received its second Grammy nomination in two years as “Best Folk Album” for 2018’s Weed Garden. Their previous nomination was for “Best Americana Album” for 2017’s Beast Epic.
Our Endless Numbered Days (Deluxe Edition) is available from Sub Pop and independent retailers.
Calexico and Iron & Wine today announce Years to Burn, their first full–length album together, available June 14th via City Slang in the UK/Europe and Sub Pop in the rest of the world. Now hear lead track entitled “Father Mountain” and see that an extensive North American, European, and UK tour has been announced with more dates to be added in the coming weeks. See all dates below.
Calexico and Iron & Wine first made an artistic connection with In the Reins, the 2005 EP that brought Sam Beam, Joey Burns and John Convertino together. The acclaimed collaboration introduced both acts to wider audiences and broadened Beam’s artistic horizons, but it was the shared experience of touring together in the tradition of Bob Dylan’s “Rolling Thunder Revue” that cemented the bond. Their metaphorical roads diverged in the years that followed, but they kept in touch and cross-pollinated where they could. Although they often talked about rekindling their collaboration in the studio and on stage, it wasn’t until last year that their schedules aligned.
Years to Burn can’t help but be different from In the Reins. Back then, Calexico entered the studio with a long list of previous collaborations (first in Giant Sand, then backing the likes of Victoria Williams and Richard Buckner) and the knowledge that they loved Sam’s voice and his songs, but wondered if his material was so complete and self-contained that it lacked a way in, so hushed and delicate that it might be overwhelmed. For his part, Beam had been intimidated by their virtuosic playing and their deep comfort in an encyclopedic array of styles. “In my mind, I was a guy who knew three chords and recorded in a closet,” Sam says. “They were playing big stages and were superb musicians.”
Those fears were dispelled quickly. Calexico was bowled over by Beam’s many talents: “The arranging, the writing, his sense of rhythm, the quality of his vocals—and then there’s the experimental side of Sam,” Joey says. “They were the perfect band at the perfect time for me,” Sam adds. “I loved all their different sounds. They’re musical anthropologists, not regurgitating but absorbing what they discover.” Nearly 15 years on, “coming back to the project has to do with acknowledging how much impact the first record had for me in my life.”
Years to Burn was recorded in Nashville with noted producer Matt Ross-Spang over the course of five days at Sound Emporium, a fabled studio founded in the sixties by Cowboy Jack Clement and the site of countless landmark sessions in country and rock over the ensuing decades. It features contributions from veteran Calexico trumpet player Jacob Valenzuela and Paul Niehaus on pedal steel, along with frequent Beam cohorts Rob Burger (Tin Hat Trio) on piano and Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing, Fiona Apple) on bass.
Years to Burn features ten new original compositions. While Beam wrote all the songs for In the Reins, this recording features contributions from both Beam and Burns as well as from Convertino and those featured on the record. While the two may have taken differing approaches to songwriting, the spirit of collaboration was alive and well in the studio; Sam shared demos ahead of time and was ready for the others to contribute with arrangement ideas and instrumental parts, while Joey spontaneous as ever, came in with concepts and an eagerness to improvise.
“Life is hard. Awesome. And scary as shit. But it can lift you up if you let it,” Sam offers. “These are the things Joey and I write about now. And the title can encapsulate a lot of things. ‘Years to Burn’ could mean you’re cocky, you’ve got it made. Or, our life is ours to burn, to be inspired. Or you’re burned by life, brutalized. It’s an ambiguous title, because life is complicated. Let’s not talk like teenagers about love, desire, pain, ‘cause we’re not teenagers. And that’s not a bad thing.”
“This project had to find the right time,” Joey concludes. “We’re all different people than we were in 2004, and music helps to bridge some of the gaps. For all the things going on in our world and in each of our lives, this connection, this friendship, this love that we have—this album is a vehicle for that bond. It’s a chance to see where we’re at, take stock and be there for our friends.”
Years to Burn is now available for pre-order from Sub Pop (and via City Slang in the UK/Europe). LP pre-orders in North America through megamart.subpop.com, and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on green colored vinyl (while supplies last) PLUS - 225 randomly selected pre-orders will receive a special lithograph signed by the artists. For more information on Years to Burn, the full bio is available here.
Years to Burn - Tracklisting
1. What Heaven’s Left
2. Midnight Sun
3. Father Mountain
4. Outside El Paso
5. Follow The Water
6. The Bitter Suite (Pájaro / Evil Eye / Tennessee Train)
7. Years To Burn
8. In Your Own Time
Calexico and Iron & Wine Tour Dates
Jun. 18 - Saxapahaw, NC - River Ballroom
Jul. 19 - Lisbon, PT - Super Bock Super Rock
Jul. 20 - Sat Arlesheim, CH - Stimmen Festival
Jul. 22 - Milano, IT - La Triennale di Milano
Jul. 23 - Gardone Riviera, IT - Anfiteatro del Vittoriale
Jul. 24 - Rome, IT - Villa Ada
Jul. 25 - Florence, IT - Cavea del Nuovo Teatro dell’opera
Jul. 26 - Monoforte D’ Alba, IT - Auditorium Horszowski
Jul. 28 - Vienna, AT - Konzerthaus
Jul. 29 - Palma, ES - Auditorium de Palma de Mallorca
Jul. 31 - Hamburg, DE - Stadtpark
Aug. 02 - Cambridge, UK - Cambridge Folk Festival
Aug. 03 - Leuven, BE - M-idzommer Festival
Aug. 04 - Crozon, FR - Festival Du Bout Du Monde
Aug. 06 - Phoenix, AZ - Orpheum Theatre
Aug. 17 - Tucson, AZ - Rialto Theatre
Aug. 21 - Ogden, UT - Twilight Series at Ogden Amphitheater
Aug. 22 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
Aug. 23 - Portland, OR - Keller Auditorium
Aug. 24 - Vancouver, BC - Vogue Theatre
Sep. 09 - Sun North Adams, MA - FreshGrass Festival
Weyes Blood directs, stars in and breaks through the fourth wall in her gorgeous new video for “Movies,” a standout from Titanic Rising. The video was directed by and stars Natalie Mering, and like the album cover, includes footage filmed underwater.
Of it, she says, “We are enamored with Movies. Our generation is the most cinematically saturated of all time. Videotapes, DVD’s, streaming… Spielberg…all of it has thrust us into an endless loop of consumption. They provide formative experiences as children, standing larger than life before our fragile adolescent minds. I wanted to take a look into the emotionally manipulative powers of Movies - how have Movies succeeded in telling the myths of our time? How have they failed (miserably)? What is the consequent effect on a society of beings looking for themselves in the myths on the screen? It’s safe to say that they have failed us, but I can’t help it…I love Movies.”
Weyes Blood will release Titanic Rising, her fourth album and Sub Pop records debut, worldwide on CD/LP/DL/CS April 5th, 2019. The album features the lead single “Everyday,” and the previously released “Andromeda,” along with highlights “Something to Believe,” “Wild Time,” and the aforementioned “Movies.” The cover for Titanic Rising was shot in a bedroom submerged fully underwater by photographer Brett Stanley (zero CGI).
Weyes Blood’s previously announced “True Love is Making a Comeback Tour” in support of Titanic Rising runs April 1st-June 13th, 2019.
True Love is Making a Comeback Tour 2019 California Apr. 01 - Fresno, CA - Strummers Apr. 02 - Santa Cruz, CA - The Atrium at The Catalyst Apr. 03 - Santa Barbara, CA - Velvet Jones Apr. 04 - Los Angeles, CA - Masonic Lodge [Sold Out]
UK/Europe Apr. 22 - Brighton, UK - The Haunt Apr. 23 - Bristol, UK - The Exchange Apr. 24 - Manchester, UK - YES (The Pink Room) Apr. 25 - London, UK - Islington Assembly Hall Apr. 27 - Berlin, DE - Kantine am Berghain Apr. 28 - Hamburg, DE- Turmzimmer Apr. 29 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso Upstairs Apr. 30 - Dunkerque, FR - 4Ecluses May 02 - Paris, FR - La Maroquinerie May 03 - Orleans, FR - Astrolabe May 04 - Brussels, BE - Le Nuits Botanique (Venue: Rotonde)
North America May 14 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent May 16 - Seattle, WA - The Tractor Tavern May 17 - Vancouver, BC - St. James Hall May 18 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir Lounge May 21 - Minneapolis, MN - Turf Club May 22 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall May 24 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern May 25 - Montreal, QC - Petit Campus May 26 - Portland, ME - SPACE Gallery May 28 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair May 29 - New York, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg May 31 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall Jun. 01 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s Jun. 03 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl Jun. 04 - Nashville, TN - The High Watt Jun. 06 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada Jun. 07 - Houston, TX - White Oak Music Hall (upstairs) Jun. 08 - Austin, TX - Antone’s Jun. 10 - El Paso, TX - Lowbrow Palace Jun. 11 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf Jun. 12 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar Jun. 13 - Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour
Titanic Rising is available for pre-order from Sub Pop. LP pre-orders in North America through weyesblood.com, megamart.subpop.com, and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on maroon colored vinyl (while supplies last). LP preorders of Titanic Rising throughout the UK and Europe from select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on red vinyl (while supplies last). There will also be a new T-shirt design available.
2019 touring schedule April 12th through September 22nd.
The legendary Preservation Hall Jazz Band have just released “Kreyol,” a spirited new tune from “A Tuba To Cuba,” the forthcoming soundtrack to the critically acclaimed documentary directed by T.G. Herrington and Danny Clinch. The song is available today on all DSPs worldwide from Sub Pop and also YouTube - Spotify - Apple Music.
“A Tuba to Cuba” follows Ben Jaffe of New Orleans’ famed Preservation Hall Jazz Band as he seeks to fulfill his late father’s dream of retracing their musical roots to the shores of Cuba in search of the indigenous music that gave birth to New Orleans jazz. “A Tuba to Cuba” celebrates the triumph of the human spirit expressed through the universal language of music and challenges us to resolve to build bridges, not walls. Beginning today, the film will also be available through Amazon Video, iTunes, DirecTV, Google Play, YouTube Movies and more. Check your local service provider for additional listings.
The New York Times says of the film, “This joyous, wide-ranging account of a New Orleans jazz band’s 2015 visit to Cuba is crammed with fascinating facts and toe-tickling tunes.” And the LA Times offers this, “Jaunty, at times poetic chats and drop-ins with many Big Easy and Cuban jazz artists, discussion of their music’s African lineage (the Atlantic slave trade factored in), stirring examples of native instrumentation, and pulsating performances combine with colorful, travelogue-type shots (love those old Cuban theaters) and vivid archival footage to create a vibrant and joyous portrait.”
Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Ben Jaffe says of “Kreyol,” “Every evening in Havana people gather along the waterfront to socialize. I’ve always been taken by the tempo at which people stroll, like New Orleans, there’s a very particular rhythm to their walk. That rhythm was the inspiration for “Kreyol”. In fact, “Kreyol” is the Cuban spelling of “Creole”. You can feel that same Creole influence in New Orleans, it’s one of our many shared connections with Cuba.”
Preservation Hall Jazz Band Tour Dates
Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s touring schedule for 2019 currently spans April 12th through September 22nd. Headlining and festival highlights include: Cape May, NJ’s Exit Zero Jazz Festival (April 12th); Charleston, NC’s High Water Festival (April 14th); New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (April 27th); Happy Valley, OR’s Pickathon (August 3rd- 4th); SFJAZZ in San Francisco (August 8th-12th); Arrington, VA’s Lockn’ Music Festival (August 24th); Louisville, KY’s Bourbon & Beyond (September 20th); and Franklin, TN’s Pilgrimage Music Festival (September 21st-22nd).
Additionally, Preservation Hall Jazz Band will support Foo Fighters at The Fillmore in New Orleans (May 16th) and Dave Matthews Band at Elkhorn, WI’s Alpine Valley Music Theatre (July 5th-6th). Tickets for these shows are on sale now.
Apr. 12 - Cape May, NJ - Exit Zero Jazz Festival Apr. 14 - Charleston, SC - High Water Festival - Riverfront Park Apr. 27 - New Orleans, LA - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival May 16 - New Orleans, LA - The Fillmore ^ Jul. 05 - Elkhorn, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theatre* Jul. 06 - Elkhorn, WI - Alpine Valley Music Theatre* Aug. 03- Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Aug. 04 - Happy Valley, OR - Pickathon Aug. 08 - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ Aug. 09 - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ Aug. 10 - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ (7:00PM) Aug. 10 - San Francisco, CA - SFJAZZ (9:30PM) Aug. 24 - Arrington, VA - Lockn’ Music Festival Sep. 20 - Louisville, KY - Bourbon & Beyond Festival Sep. 21 - Franklin, TN - Pilgrimage Music Festival Sep. 22 - Franklin, TN - Pilgrimage Music Festival *with Dave Matthews Band ^with Foo Fighters
Now Listen to Haunted Items #1 “Dancing” & “Tunnel”
Frankie Cosmos has announced the release of Haunted Items, a digital-only collection of new stripped-down songs for the piano. Over the next 4 weeks, Sub Pop will share songs from this collection weekly, beginning with the tracks “Dancing” and “Tunnel” which you can listen to today via all digital service providers. See below for a full list of songs.
Frontwoman Greta Kline says of the Haunted Items project: “items themselves are harmless unless they are infused with some kind of energy. These items are haunted by fear, consumerism, commitment, love, loss, the list goes on…I had some of these songs stuck inside me, mostly because I wrote a lot of them for piano and didn’t know how to record them, even as demos. My friend Elia gifted me with 10 hours of recording time with Mark Yoshizumi, and this winter felt like the perfect opportunity to get these out of my system and haunt you with them instead. I have always been afraid of items being haunted, but when you think about it, every item is, right?”
Haunted Items Track and release schedule on DSP’s:
3/13 - Haunted Items #1 “Dancing” “Tunnel”
3/20 - Haunted Items #2 “February” “In The World”
3/27 - Haunted Items #3 “String” “Eternal”
4/3 - Haunted Items #4 “Rings on a Tree” “Allowed” “Today’s Special”
Frankie Cosmos will return to the UK and mainland Europe for a short tour beginning April 1st with a show at EartH in London. The new dates will continue throughout the month with performances in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Berlin, Lisbon, Madrid, Barcelona, and Bologna. Frankie Cosmos will then return to the U.S. for an appearance at Austin, TX-based radio station KVRX Festival.
Apr. 01 - London, UK- EartH (AKA Hackney Arts Centre) Apr. 03 - Stockholm, SE - Melodybox Apr. 04 - Gothenborg, SE - Pustervik Arp. 05 - Oslo, NO - John Dee Apr. 06 - Aarhus - DK - TAPE Apr. 07 - Copenhagen, DK - Lille Vega Apr. 09 - Berlin, DE - Musik & Frieden Apr. 10 - Heidlberg, DE - Karlstorbahnhof Apr. 12 - Gipuzkoa, ES - Dabadaba, Donostia Apr. 13 - A Coruña, ES - Garufa Club Room Apr. 15 - Lisbon, PT - ZDB Gallery Apr. 16 - Madrid, ES - El Sol Apr. 17 - Barcelona, ES - Razzmatazz Apr. 19 - Bologna, IT - Covo Club May. 11 - Austin, TX- KVRX Fest (w/ Fat Tony, Video Age, Palm and more)
