[News] Bloc Party Announce UK Tour Dates

Rejoice Bloc Party fans in the UK! The band have just announced a string of UK dates set for June on which it will give fans a chance to marinate in some new tracks from their forthcoming album which they are working on in the studio now after announcing they'd signed to Frenchkiss Records. The news broke today when Kele posted a lovely little message to fans"

Hello internet, I know it’s been a long two and half years since bloc party last performed in the UK. Well it seems that wait is over, we are happy to announce a short run of intimate shows for our friends in the UK and our friends in the US. We will be playing choice cuts from our new record as well as some more familiar jams. We hope to see you soon.

 Eager to see them?! Me too! Dates can be seen after the jump including the band's busy Summer schedule and dates across the pond. Tickets are on sale now so what are you waiting for? Go grab them here. 

Bloc Party Tour Dates 2012:

June

19 – Garage - Glasgow

20 – The Ritz - Manchester

21 – Koko - London

July

04 – Heineken Opener Festival, Gdynia PO

08 – Ruisrock Festival, Turku FI

12 – BBK Live, Bilbao ES

13-15 – Melt Festival, Ferropolis DE

30 – The Republik, Honolulu HI USA

August 

03 – Hard Festival, LA USA

03-05 – Osheaga Festival, Montreal CA

08 – Terminal 5, New York NY USA

11– The Pool @ The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas NV USA 

16-18–Frequency, St Polten AT

September

04 – Mallorca Rocks, Mallorca ES

05 – Ibiza Rocks, Ibiza ES

[News] Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs Announces Debut Album 'Trouble'

UK electronic musician/producer Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs, whose real name is equally as quirky (Orlando Higginbottom), has announced that he will be releasing his debut LP, titled Trouble, on June 12th via Casablanca Records. The debut release has been a long time coming, as TEED began making music in 2008. He has since released numerous singles, remixes, EPs, and even worked with Damon Albarn on his recent DRC Music project. An issued press release states that TEED's intention is "to make a record that felt free from the frequent short-lived trends in dance music, and that made sense to a dancer and a listener." The album also sees TEED becoming "completely immersed in the role of vocalist, providing the story with a genuine heartfelt quality," all the while employing his “trademark sub-bass, electro bounciness and washed-out synths." He goes further to say, "I feel like I’ve been working on this debut album for ages and now I can’t wait to get it out there.”

Make sure to check back for more news and releases regarding TEED's forthcoming debut LP Trouble, and after the jump you can check out both the tracklisting for the album as well as the recently released video for TEED's track "Tapes & Money."

Trouble Tracklist:
01. Promises
02. Trouble
03. Shimmer
04. Household Goods
05. Your Love
06. You Need Me On Your Own
07. Panpipes
08. Garden
09. Solo
10. Tapes & Money
11. American Dream Part II
12. Closer
13. Fair
14. Stronger

[News] The Weeknd Announces First-Ever Tour

With plans to perform at this year's Coachella and Lollapalooza, it seems that Toronto R&B crooner The Weeknd is becoming more comfortable with the idea of live performances. With that in mind, he has officially announced his first-ever nationwide tour, which kicks off on April 25th in Brooklyn following his two weekends at Coachella. Take a look at The Weeknd's full tour itinerary after the jump.

The Weeknd 2012 Tour Dates:
04/15 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/22 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/25 – Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
04/26 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
04/27 – Boston, MA @ Royale
04/28 – New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
04/29 – Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
05/03 – Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
05/06 – Los Angeles, CA @ Fonda Theatre
05/08 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
05/10 – Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater
05/11 – Seattle, WA @ Showbox
06/02 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
06/07 – London, UK @ Wireless Festival
07/06-07 – Amsterdam, NL @ PITCH Fest
08/03-05 – Montreal, QC @ Osheaga Festival
08/03-05 – Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza

[Listen] James Murphy and David Byrne of Talking Heads Speak at Yale

When LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy isn't DJing at London's Boiler Room, he's giving talks at Yale with fellow musician and Talking Heads frontman David Byrnes. The two took part in a Yale discussion series called "Art and Music" last month, where they discussed many aspects of New York, but most notably the city's noisy subway turnstiles. Here's what Murphy had to say on the matter:

All the subway turnstiles in New York City…make a beep. It’s a really unpleasant sound and the one that’s right next to it is slightly out of key with it. So, it’s like ‘ehhh….aehhh…uehhh’ Unless you get it wrong and it’s like, ‘No!’ Then it’s the sound of your bruised hip as you hit the thing… So I thought, I love New York and I love its aggression, and I love that it doesn’t make it easier for you to be a member of the city…But, I wanted to change the sound of going through the turnstile to a series of notes—I could do a little program. I could be like, well, the dominant note is the root, this is the fifth, this is the third, have a couple of sevenths, throw a few sixths in there just to be crazy. And during rush hour it would make arpeggiated music. And each subway station could have its own key or tonal set. For me, for a new person going to work, I think it would just be nice. It would be hard not to like that more than ‘shut up, idiot, you’re walking so slow!"

The entirety of the discussion is available to stream below (via WNYC).

[News] Astronautalis and Bon Iver Form Band, Recording Collaborative Album

This morning, Minneapolis music blog Gimme Noise revealed that Minneapolis rapper Astronautalis, aka Andy Bothwell, and close neighbor and Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon turned a whiskey-fueled weekend into a series of intense, creative recording sessions. With the help of Bon Iver member and multi-instrumentalist S. Carey as well as producer Ryan Olson, the group took to Vernon's April Base recording studio and got to work.

When speaking on the process of recording at April Base, Bothwell said, "[b]y the time I got there, they had about eight pieces of music done, or roughed out into song form. Then I just got down there and freestyled for eight hours over everything. When I work with Ryan, it's the exact opposite of how I work on my own records. I just give him tons and tons of material. He takes it back to his house, and dangles a cigarette out of his mouth, and works for hours on end." He went further to say, "[w]hat sparked this was that he and I are obsessive and lose our minds working on albums. Stressing out over lyric choices, and getting one word right and worrying about it for weeks on end. Whereas, Ryan is this amazing personality who motivates people to enjoy the process of making music. You just do it, and if it doesn't work, it'll get cut out."

For those who are fans of either Bon Iver or Astronautalis separately, Bothwell teased what the album will sound like, saying, "[a] lot of my fans are like, 'Oh this is going to be amazing: Astronautalis rapping and Justin singing choruses.' It's not going to be that. I'm sure that all of Justin's fans are going to be like 'Oh, it's a new Bon Iver record and there's these other guys.' Everyone's fans respectively are going to expect certain things." In regards to the album's sound and possible release date, Bothwell went into greater detail, saying, "I think you'll hear it sooner than you think, and I kinda just wanna leave it at that. It's such a far stretch for a lot of us musically. I think everyone should abandon their expectations of what it's going to be, because it's probably going to be very far off."

Expect to hear more regarding the Astronautalis and Bon Iver collaboration in the coming months.

[News] Real Estate Announce More Tour Dates, Opening for The Shins

On top of their previously announced tour dates, which includes an appearance at this year's Coachella, New Jersey indie rockers Real Estate have announced yet even more tour dates as a continuation of their spring tour. Following their tour with the Twerps in April, Real Estate will open for The Shins during a trio of shows including New York, Boston, and Philadelphia. As well, the band will be performing a slew of festivals in both North America and Europe, including Pitchfork Music Festival. Check out their full tour itinerary after the jump.

Real Estate 2012 Tour Dates:
04/09 – Little Rock, AR @ Rev Room
04/10 – Dallas, TX @ Club Dada *
04/11 – Austin, TX @ The Mohawk *
04/15 – Indio, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/19 – Mexico City, MX @ Caradura
04/20 – Seattle, WA @ The Neptune
04/22 – Indo, CA @ Coachella Music Festival
04/23 – Santa Cruz, CA @ Catalyst
04/24 – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall *
04/25 – Reno, NV @ Holland Project *
04/26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge *
04/27 – Englewood, CO @ Gothic Theatre *
04/28 – Lawrence, KS @ Bottleneck *
04/29 – St. Louis, MO @ Plush *
04/30 – Columbus, OH @ Newport Music Hall *
05/01 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5 ^
05/03 – Philadelphia, PA @ Tower Theater ^
05/04 – Boston, MA @ Wang Theatre ^
06/02 – Barcelona, ES @ Primavera Sound
06/27 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
06/28 – Arendal, NO @ Hove Festival
07/14 – Louisville, KY @ Forecastle Festival
07/15 – Chicago, IL @ Pitchfork Music Festival
08/02 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
08/03 – Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Honda Theater
08/04 – Big Sur, CA @ Woodsist Festival

* = w/ Twerps
^ = w/ The Shins

[News] POP ETC Detail New Album

Brooklyn indie outfit POP ETC, the band formerly known as The Morning Benders, have announced that they will be releasing a brand new, self-titled studio LP on June 12th via Rough Trade. Following a well argued name change, the band spoke with Pitchfork, revealing that the album has been self-produced along with the help of Danger Mouse and Andrew Dawson, whose portfolio includes work with Kanye West and Lil Wayne. Upon announcing their name change, the band also released a free mixtape called POP ETC Mixtape, which featured two songs that will be included on the upcoming LP, that being "Halfway to Heaven" and "Everything Is Gone." The mixtape showed the new direction that the band is going in since departing from The Morning Benders moniker, which band frontman Chris Chu addressed in his interview with Pitchfork:

Over the last few years, I rediscovered music that I loved from when I was a kid: Boyz II Men, Madonna, Cyndi Lauper. Boyz II Men's II was my first album, and I was immediately taken aback by how it felt very familiar and nostalgic, but also completely new. What's incredible is that there's a lot of music that I go back to now that I don't have the same response to. I'll listen to Green Day, but purely for nostalgia. However, listening to Boyz II Men was like, "Whoa!" There's this whole slew of stuff that went over my head when I was a kid. At the time, I liked it because it made me happy and it sounded cool. Now, I think it's really amazingly well-crafted music."

Stay posted for more news regarding the upcoming studio effort, and head over to Pitchfork to read the entirety of their interview with POP ETC. As well, you can stream both "Halfway to Heaven" and "Everything Is Gone" below.

[Listen] St. Lucia - "Before The Dive"

You've seen us gradually begin to obsess over St. Lucia with every passing week for the past few months, now those of you residing in the UK and Paris will be able to catch him for yourself! Just prior to releasing his next single, "Before The Dive" as a 7" and digital download on May 14th, St. Lucia will be making stops in Brighton, Paris, and London. Make sure you check out the dates below for more information. For now, have a listen to "Before The Dive" if you haven't already picked up his self-titled EP yet or at least have been incessantly streaming it on Soundcloud.

UK Live Dates:
Thursday 10th May – BRIGHTON, Upstairs at Fitzberberts
Friday 11th May – BRIGHTON, The Great Escape @ Psychosocial
Tuesday 15th May – PARIS, Popshop @ Casino Nouveau ** Headline show **
Thursday 17th May – LONDON, Popshop UK @ CAMP ** Headline Show **