[News] Girls Announce New Single, More Tour Dates

On December 6th, San Francisco-based indie pop duo Girls will be releasing a brand new single titled "Lawrence." Depsite having released their second studio album Father, Son, Holy Ghost only two months ago, the duo will be dropping this non-album related single as a gift for Lawrence Hayward, the frontman for Felt, Denim, and Go Kart Mozart. The single will be released digitally as well as on limited, heart-shaped red vinyl via True Panther Sounds. Below, you can read Girls' frontman Christopher Owens' letter to Lawrence:

11.1.11

Dear Lawrence,

I wonder who will be writing me in twenty years, and what they’ll be looking for. Don’t worry, I’m not writing to talk about the things I’m looking for in life, I’ll spare you that. I’m writing to FINALLY be able to send you a song that I wrote in 2008. When I wrote this song I was the guitarist in a band called Holy Shit, Matt Fishbeck (our fearless leader) was the one who turned me on to Felt. I fell in love with your songs, I wouldn’t stop listening, I loved you and Maurice.

To make a long story a shorter story, I once wrote this song and wondered what you would sing to it, I could sometimes hear your voice but I didn’t dare write down any words. I never thought for a second you would ever hear it, I wondered if you would like it, all that. I called it Lawrence, after you. To send it to you now is incredible for me, I want to show you I’m thankful. You gave me something to love, or in other words you gave me love itself. You took something that can sometimes feel so common and dull and brought it back to life with so much beauty and verse. You gave me happiness, and you still do.

Anyway, I’d just like you to have it, it’s yours, take it as yours. Do anything you want with it. I hope you enjoy listening to it. And all the best to you forever and ever.

With love – Christopher Owens"

Along with the announced single, the duo have also announced a trio of winter tour dates in the U.S. The band will be hitting up Los Angeles and Santa Ana in December, and New York City in January. You can check out all of the duo's upcoming tour dates after the jump.

Girls 2011-2012 Tour Dates:
11/08 – Cardiff, UK @ The Globe
11/09 – London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
11/10 – Manchester, UK @ Ritz *
11/11 – Glasgow, UK @ Stereo
11/12 – Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
11/13 – Hamburg, DE @ Molotow
11/15 – Antwerp, BE @ Trix
11/16 – Amsterdam, NL @ OT301
11/17 – Cologne, DE @ Werkstatt
11/18 – Strasbourg, FR @ Laiterie Club
11/19 – Paris, FR @ Maroquinerie
11/21 – Vienna, AT @ Wuk
11/22 – Zurich, CH @ Mascotte
11/23 – Milan, IT @ Plastic
11/24 – Hyeres, FR @ Midi Festival
11/25 – Barcelona, ES @ Casino de l’Alianca
11/26 – Madrid, ES @ Palacio Vistalegre
11/27 – Madrid, ES @ Joy Eslava
11/29 – Lisbon, PT @ Lux Club
11/30 – Porto, PT @ Casa de Musica
12/06 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Music Box
12/07 – Santa Ana, CA @ Galaxy Theatre
01/14 – New York, NY @ Terminal 5

* = w/ Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks

[News] Radiohead Announces 2012 US Tour Dates

Earlier today Radiohead announced the first ten dates of their US tour, which will begin on February 27, 2012 in Miami, FL. Oklahoma-based indie outfit Other Lives will be touring in support of the announced dates so far. The announcement of this tour marks the first extensive US tour for Radiohead since 2008.

Tickets go on sale for all dates except Tampa on November 12. Tampa tickets go on sale on November 19th.

Radiohead US Tour Dates:

02/27 – Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena

02/29 – Tampa, FL – St. Pete Times Forum

03/01 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena

03/03 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center

03/05 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center

03/07 – Austin, TX – Frank Erwin Center

03/09 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center

03/11 – Kansas, City, MO – Sprint Center

03/13 – Broomfield, CO – 1stBank Center

03/15 – Glendale, AZ – Jobing.com Arena

[Watch] Frank Ocean's Solo Concert Debut

One month ago, Frank Ocean announced that he would be putting on three solo performances, the first of his career, and, last night, Odd Future's most soulful member made his debut solo performance in New Orleans. After the jump, you can watch fan footage of Ocean performing "Thinking About You" live in New Orleans.

Tonight, Ocean will be performing at New York's Bowery Ballroom, the same night that his Watch The Throne collaborators Kanye and Jay-Z will be performing in New Jersey. Ocean will then be heading to Europe for a trio of shows before making his way back to Los Angeles on November 15th.

Frank Ocean - "Thinking About You" (Live):

[Watch] Florence + The Machine, My Morning Jacket and Pete Townshend once again perform on Jools Holland

Earlier this week, Later... with Jools Holland played host to performances by Florence + The Machine, My Morning Jacket, and Pete Townshend of The Who. Well, it turns out that wasn't a one time thing, as all three acts returned to the Jools Holland set to perform on last night's episode. Florence + The Machine performed "Breaking Down" off of their sophomore album Ceremonials, My Morning Jacket played two songs, the first being "First Light" and the second "You Wanna Freak Out," while Townshend finished it off with the classic Who track "Drowned." If all this wasn't enough, another surprise hit the Jools Holland set this week, as Mary J. Blige performed her song "Need Someone" off of her upcoming album My Life II… The Journey Continues (Act 1). You can watch all of the performances after the jump.

Florence and the Machine – “Breaking Down”:

My Morning Jacket – “First Light”:

My Morning Jacket – “You Wanna Freak Out”:

Pete Townshend – “Drowned”:

Mary J. Blige - "Need Someone":

[Watch] Real Estate - "It's Real" (Official Video)

New Jersey rockers Real Estate recently released their second studio album Days, and in support of the album, the outfit has shared the first music video for the lead single "It's Real." You can watch the video, which was directed by Weird Days and filmed in Livingston, NY and Brooklyn, in the player above. To further support the album, the band is currently starting a North American headlining tour with the help of Big Troubles. You can check out all of Real Estate's tour dates after the jump.

Days was released on October 18th via Domino Records.

Real Estate 2011 Tour Dates:

Fri-Nov-04    Salt Lake City, UT        Urban Lounge *

Sat-Nov-05    Boise, ID                Neurolux *

Sun-Nov-06    Portland, OR            Doug Fir *

Mon-Nov-07    Seattle, WA            The Crocodile *

Tue-Nov-08    Vancouver, BC            Biltmore *

Fri-Nov-11    San Francisco, CA        Slim's *

Sat-Nov-12    Los Angeles, CA        Echoplex *

Sun-Nov-13    San Diego, CA            Sunset Temple *

Mon-Nov-14    Phoenix, AZ            Sail Inn *

Wed-Nov-16    Austin, TX            The Parish *

Thu-Nov-17    Dallas, TX                Club Dada *

Fri-Nov-18    Memphis, TN            Hi-Tone *

Sat-Nov-19    Lexington, KY            Cosmic Charlies *

Sun-Nov-20    Pittsburgh, PA            Garfield Art Works *

Mon-Nov-21    Philadelphia, PA        Johnny Brenda's *

Wed-Nov-23    New York, NY            Bowery Ballroom *

Wed-Nov-30    Barcelona, Spain       KGB

Thu-Dec-01    Valencia, Spain         Wah Wah

Fri-Dec-02     Madrid, Spain         El Sol

Sat-Dec-03    Lisbon, Portugal     LZB

Mon-Dec-05   Clermont Ferrand, France    TBD

Fri-Dec-09    Copenhagen, Denmark     Vega

Sat-Dec-10    Gothenberg, Sweden    Henriksberg

Sun-Dec-11   Stockholm, Sweden    Slussen

Mon-Dec-12   Oslo, Norway   John Dee 

* = w/ Big Troubles

[Listen] An Entire Nirvana Show from April, 1990

It's not been a bad year for Nirvana fans the world over. With the celebrations for Nevermind's 20th anniversary still playing heavy on our heads comes another treat for fans. Boston radio station WFNX have uncovered a gem of a recording from back on April 18th 1990, a show that apparently had 60-75 people in the crowd. The gig took place at a club called Man Ray in Cambridge, Massachusetts, however the club is no more so this in itself is a little piece of gold let alone  Check out the full stream below.

01 Live Set by Duane Bruce

[Review] Tribes @ The Ruby Lounge, Manchester (31/10/11)

After hearing a lot of praise for these boys regarding their live sets and sadly missing them at Leeds festival due to a clash or intoxication, take your pick of which, I finally got my chance to witness the four piece known as Tribes show their chops. Rocking up to the intimate venue of the Ruby Lounge dressed like a weird ass skeletal priest (it was Halloween after all) I was pleasantly surprised by the bands openers Whales in Cabinets. Rocking a rather raw sound that in places did remind me of early some early Foo Fighters, yeah I said it. I'll be keeping an eye open for them in the near future.

For now though my eyes were set for Tribes, the real reason I'd ventured out this evening four young gents by the name of Johnny Lloyd, Dan White, Miguel Demelo and Jim Cratchley. The lads from Camden have created more than a name for themselves over the past year and performed their first headline tour culminating in a homecoming show in their hometown of Camden's legendary Dingwalls. To say I was a little excited for this one would be an understatement. After listening to their two EP's We Were Children and When My Day Comes I thought I knew what to expect from the setlist. I was wrong and the 40+ minutes that followed was a whirlwind of harmonious guitar goodness. 

Opening up with "Whenever" a track with an impeccably catchy chorus they started at a fast pace and showed me and the room that they meant business. Playing the infectious "Girlfriend" right before their single from earlier in the year "Sappho", they managed to then whip the crowd into a bit of a drunken frenzy as the venue sang back their radio played track. I couldn't help but think to myself "they're only 3 tracks in, what's next?!". Thirty seconds later I found out, the crowd was about to be treated to some new tracks as Johnny Lloyd took to the mic to tell us that this was a new one taken from the bands full length debut, Baby, set for release in early 2012. Three minutes pass and in that time the band have just played a track titled "Himalaya" and I'm telling you first hand, it was good, really good. A soaring harmony laden chorus paired up with a nice, yet subtle guitar solo mid way through the song. A track that I definitely foresee having crowds the country over singing along to on their next tour or more likely, over the 2012 festival season.  

Next up the acoustic guitar was out for the We Were Children track, "Coming of Age" and as the lyrics of "I wanna get drunk and leave my brain outside". I'm glad to be (mostly) sober and have my brain in tact, for the band on stage does not give away the fact that they have not yet released a long player, or the fact they've barely been in the consciousness of many for less than a year. The band play together like a well oiled unit, they're tighter than many bigger bands I've seen and to say they could fill venues twice this size would be an understatement. 

Finishing up the set with "We Were Children" the four young gents from Camden seem humbled by the crowds receptiveness and the reception they've received up north. I left the show with a feeling of relief. Often when you hear all these great things about a band and their live show you can build your expectations up and up until the final expectations you have for a band you've never even seen can never be met. This was not one of those occasions. However high I would have set my invisible goal posts for this band I have a feeling they would have hit it with their eyes closed. Their on stage chemistry and friendships shined through and they were super, super tight musically. They were a unit, gunning down the crowd with track after track of pure gold, old and new. I was thoroughly impressed and will most definitely be checking these guys out live again. I suggest you do the same too and sooner rather than later. I see big things happening for Tribes in 2012 with the release of their full length debut. Watch this space.

[Watch] Benjamin Francis Leftwich - "1904" (Animal Soundlocker Session)

If you're yet to pick up a copy of Benjamin Francis Leftwich's debut LP Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm then you are most certainly missing out. Before you now rush out to buy if because of my previous sentence though hang on a few minutes. Up at the top is a performance from the young gent recorded at a recent Animal Soundlocker session and it shows the delicate intricacies Ben has managed to accomplish on his debut. No doubt this rendition of "1904" will warm your cockles on a cold winters day. 

Last Smoke Before The Snowstorm is out now.