The Donkeys announce new album, Born With Stripes

I had completely forgotten about The Donkeys until an hour or so ago when I read that they've got a new album coming out on April 26 via Dead Oceans. I first discovered The Donkeys in late 2008 when reading through The Hold Steady frontman Craig Finn's top albums of 2008 list and after seeing The Donkeys' Living On The Other Side on it I promptly tracked it down.

Living On The Other Side is the band's second album (their first one being their self-titled debut from 2006, which I still haven't heard) and it's sound mostly reminded me of early '70s country rock a la Harvest-era Neil Young, The Flying Burrito Brothers, American Beauty-era Grateful Dead and the Eagles. Their upcoming third album is called Born With Stripes and judging by the album's opening track "Don't Know Who We Are" (which you can stream and download below), and Dead Oceans' description, they've toned down the country rock influences for a more modern, more indie power pop-ish sound on this one.



Tracklist for Born With Stripes:
1. Don’t Know Who We Are
2. I Like The Way You Walk
3. Bloodhound
4. Born With Stripes
5. Kaleidoscope
6. West Coast Raga
7. New Blue Stockings
8. Ceiling Tan
9. Oxblood
10. Bullfrog Blues
11. Valerie
12. East Coast Raga

Video: The Twilight Singers perform "On The Corner" on Jimmy Kimmel 23/2

Greg Dulli's The Twilight Singers was the musical guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Wednesday and performed "On The Corner" from their album Dynamite Steps which was released last week on Sub Pop. You can stream the entire album here, download an mp3 of "On The Corner" over at Stereogum and watch the Kimmel performance below.



(via Stereogum)

Video: Bright Eyes perform "Jejune Stars" on Letterman 24/2

Bright Eyes guested Late Show with David Letterman last night and performed the track "Jejune Stars" from their newly released album The People's Key (which may or may not be their last). They were really good and brought back memories from the show I attended last week, from which you can view a few pictures here, and I think Conor Oberst even wore the same shirt...Judge for yourselves:



(via TheAudioPerv)

Video for "Euphoria, Take My Hand" by Glasvegas

This is the new Glasvegas video for the amazing song "Euphoria, Take My Hand". Enjoy!

Foals - Cassius + interview

Another great tune from a band based in the U.K., named Foals. They have a great mixture of upbeat indie-rock and electro-synth tunes. "Cassius" is the second single that were released from their debut album Antidotes from 2008.

"Cassius"


Also an interview from the entertainment site, The Vine, with two of the guys from the band about their "rapidly evolving sound".

The Temper Trap - Love Lost

This is one of my absolute favourite songs of all time. I first saw the video this Christmas and I think it's stunning. The grey, English (it looks English in my opinion and the coach speaks British English, but I'm not really sure about it) landscape and the running kids really delivers the feeling of struggling.

Song of the day; The Naked And The Famous - Young Blood

Song of the day; The Naked And The Famous - "Young blood"

Frank Turner to release England Keep My Bones on June 6

In a tweet from this twitter account English singer-songwriter Frank Turner finally revealed the title and release date for his fourth studio record - England Keep My Bones will be released on June 6 in the UK and June 7 in the rest of the world. Frank Turner began his career in the post-hardcore band Million Dead, but after the band split in 2005 he started a solo career as a folk-punk singer-songwriter, or as he puts it in his twitter bio: "International Crime Fighter, skinny half-arsed English country singer".

I first discovered Frank Turner when he supported The Gaslight Anthem in 2009 when his live performance blew me away, and his records have been in steady rotation since. I have not been able to see him live since, despite him playing here in Stockholm at least twice, but I hope to do so on his upcoming tour. In June Turner will be the opening act for Social Distortion on their European tour.

Stream: Graveyard - "Ain't Fit To Live Here" & "Hisingen Blues"

Swedish '70s classic rock revivalists Graveyard are releasing their second album Hisingen Blues on March 25 in Europe and April 19 in the US and Brooklyn Vegan premiered a second track from it, "Ain't Fit To Live Here", less than half an hour ago. You can stream the track below, but according to Graveyard's facebook page it'll only be available for 24 hours so hurry up! The first single from the album is its title track "Hisingen Blues" which you can also stream below.

UPDATE: "Ain't Fit To Live Here" has now been taken down by the label.
UPDATE2: The stream is back!

"Ain't Fit To Live Here"


"Hisingen Blues"

Cymbals Eat Guitars to begin recording of new album

Cymbals Eat Guitars released one of the best debut albums of 2009 with Why There Are Mountains and they're now set to begin the recording of the follow-up. The band just revealed that the recording will begin in March in Brooklyn and that John Agnello will be producing. Agnello has previously produced Dinosaur Jr.'s Farm and Beyond, The Hold Steady's Boys And Girls In America and Stay Positive, Son Volt's The Search, Sonic Youth's Rather Ripped and Kurt Vile's Smoke Ring For My Halo, plus many more. The band is aiming for a late summer release for the new record.

In September last year the band uploaded four songs recorded for BBC 6 live session that they said would be on their next album, and you can download them below.

1. Wavelengths
2. Plainclothes
3. Tunguska
4. Definite Darknes

You can also stream Why There Are Mountains in its entirety below.

Hultsfredsfestivalen announce line-up for 2011 festival

Last year the classic version of Hultsfredsfestivalen went bankrupt and had to cancel, but the name has been revived with new owners for 2011, and judging by the band's they've booked so far it's looking a lot better. While the line-ups of the old festival got considerably worse by each year the one for this year is looking really solid.

They released the first thirteen bands yesterday and then another three today, and with bands and artists like The Tallest Man On Earth, Primal Scream (performing their classic Screamadelica), Cut Copy, the reformed Suede, Beady Eye, Black Lips and Dum Dum Girls they've managed to get one interesting line-up with broad appeal and definite focus on British guitar rock. The festival takes place between July 14 and July 16 in Hultsfred, Sweden.

Here's the full line-up so far:
Suede (UK)
Primal Scream (UK)
Beady Eye (UK)
White Lies (UK)
Johnossi (SWE)
The Tallest Man On Earth (SWE)
Cut Copy (AUS)
Shit Robot (IRL)
Black Lips (US)
Junior Boys (CAN)
Darkstar (UK)
Steve Mason (UK)
Dum Dum Girls (US)
Dan Berlund's Tonbruket (SWE)
Blackbird Blackbird (US)
This Is Head (SWE)

Listen: Beady Eye - KEXP Live Session

Beady Eye, aka Oasis minus Noel Gallagher, will release their debut album Different Gear, Still Speeding on Monday the 28th, and so far three songs have been made available: "Bring The Light", "Four Letter Word" and "The Roller". Today the Seattle-based radio station KEXP unveiled a live session and interview with Beady Eye featuring live performances of four songs from the album "Three Ring Circus", "Millionaire", "The Roller" and "The Beat Goes On", which means three new songs for those of you who haven't downloaded the album illegally.

Stream the session over at KEXP's website, download the whole session here (it's one single mp3) or stream the individual tracks via Youtube below.

Tracklist:
1. Three Ring Circus
2. Millionaire
3. Interview
4. The Roller
5. The Beat Goes On

The band's got tour dates planned for most of the spring, and a bunch of festivals date for the summer including T in the Park, Isle of Wight, Rock Werther and iTunes Festival, but as per usual there's no Sweden dates announced. View the full tour dates here.

UPDATE: Apparently I spoke an hour or two too soon, Beady Eye has been confirmed for Hultsfredsfestivalen in Sweden.

"Three Rings Circus"


"Millionaire"


"The Roller"


"The Beat Goes On"

Video: Deerhunter perform "Memory Boy" on Letterman

Atlanta, GA's Deerhunter is one of the most acclaimed indie rock bands out there today and last night they guested Late Show with David Letterman and performed the track "Memory Boy" from last year's excellent Halcyon Digest. "Memory Boy" will be released as a single (artwork above) for Record Store Day on April 16 as a limited white vinyl 7" and digital download, with the brand new track "Nosebleed" as b-side. The band's got a European tour planned for late March/early April although sadly there's no Swedish dates announced (full tour dates here). Watch Deerhunter perform "Memory Boy" below:

Stream the new Foo Fighters single "Rope"

As we've previously reported Foo Fighters will release their seventh studio album Wasting Light on April 12 via RCA, and they've previously released a video for the track "White Limo" which you can view here. They premiered the first single from the album, "Rope", just ten minutes ago and you can stream the track below. "Rope" is something of a departure from the regular Foo Fighters sound of the last few albums, but it's definitely a good direction for the band and it's raised my expectations for the album. Enjoy.

Rope by Foo Fighters

First T in the Park line-up revealed!

Yesterday the first announcements for Scotland's festival T in the Park 2011 was confirmed. I attended the last years festival and I really enjoyed it, even though the weather was dreadful. After this first announcement I feel like I really want to go this year again. I don't want to miss artists like Arctic Monkeys, Beady Eye, Miles Kane, Pulp, The Vaccines.... Damn!




The full line-up so far includes:

Arctic Monkeys
Coldplay
Foo Fighters
Pulp
Beady Eye
Chase & Status
Jessie J
The View
The Saturdays
The Script
My Chemical Romance
Plan B
Deadmau5
Pendulum
Brandon Flowers
Beady Eye
Weezer
Tinie Tempah
Manic Street Preachers
Jimmy Eat World
Tom Jones
All Time Low
White Lies
KT Tunstall
Blondie
Ke$ha
Cast
Friendly Fires
You Me At 6
Crystal Castles
Ocean Colour Scene
Eels
Hurts
Bright Eyes
The Streets
The Vaccines
Noah and the Whale
House of Pain
Slam
Imelda May
Josh Wink
Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77
Miles Kane
Vitalic
Eliza Doolittle
Diplo
Stornoway

Video: Laura Marling perform new song "Flicker And Fail"

English folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling is only twenty-one years old but she has already released two very good solo records and been a member of Noah And The Whale during the recording of their debut album. Her second album I Speak Because I Can was released last year and it's one of my favourite records from the year, with songwriting and vocals far more mature than one would expect from someone so young.

She was originally supposed to release her third lp last year too, but it's postponed with no title or release date announced yet. She's been playing several new songs live though and a few weeks ago she performed the track "Flicker And Fail" on BBC 2 Radio Folk Awards, which you can view below, via TwentyFourBit who also has five more live videos of new songs available here. I can't wait for her next album personally and, together with Johnny Flynn, she's definitely the most talented member of the new British folk scene and they're miles ahead of their contemporaries.

Here's what was posted on the official Laura Marling website concerning "Flicker And Fail":
"Anyway, at the ceremony she only went and performed a, in its current form, brand new-newbie tentatively titled ‘Flicker and Fail’…[...]We say ‘in its current’ form because the foundations of this song were in fact laid down via a battered old (but still surviving!) Yamaha guitar over 30 years ago by LM’s own father. LM has revived and tinkered with the lyrics and melody somewhat and shaped it into something old  but new. Now ain’t that folk?"

Janelle Monáe and Wiz Khalifa join Way Out West line-up

Janelle Monáe is one of the most exciting American artists right now, and her debut album from last year, The ArchAndroid, featured a mix of soul, r&b, electropop and folk influences but somehow made it all work. It's one of the more ambitious albums of the last couple of years, and made Monáe into something of a star and she's now been announced to play the Way Out West Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden this summer. Judging by videos of her live performances she's an extremely good live performer and has the potential to blow the audience away, although many might still be unfamiliar with her music.

She's one of four new artists announced for the festival today with the others being American rapper Wiz Khalifa, American folkies The Avett Brothers psychedelic LA rockers Warpaint. Monáe and Wiz Khalifa will be playing the main festival area while The Avett Brothers and Warpaint will be performing club gigs as part of Stay Out West.

The Way Out West line-up is definitely shaping up the something special, although that should be expected considering past year's line-ups, although I personally would've liked to see Wiz Khalifa-associate Curren$y rather than Khalifa. Fleet Foxes, Robyn, Pulp, Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, Thåström, Explosions In The Sky, The Jayhakws and Twin Shadow have previously been confirmed for the festival. Way Out West takes place between August 11 and August 13 at Slottskogen in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Kills reveal artwork for Blood Pressures

As we've previously reported the garage rock duo The Kills are set to release their fourth studio album Blood Pressures on April 5 via Domino Records, and they've now released the artwork for the album, which you can view above. So far they've only shared one track from the album, the single "Satellite" which you can stream here, or view the video for here.

Tracklist for Blood Pressures:
1. Future Starts Slow
2. Satellite
3. Heart Is A Beating Drum
4. Nail In My Coffin
5. Wild Charms
6. DNA
7. Baby Says
8. Last Goodbye
9. Damned If She Do
10. You Don't Own The Road
11. Pots And Pans

Morrissey re-releases the single "Glamorous Glue"

Morrissey fansite, true-to-you.net, reports that Steve Morrissey will re-release his single "Glamorous Glue" from 1992 now on the 18th of April. The single will also include two unheard songs that was recorded in 1988; around the same time that his first solo album Viva Hate was released. Quite awesome!

"Glamorous Glue"

Live review + photos: Band Of Horses + First Aid Kit, Live at Annexet, Stockholm, Sweden 2011.02.21

The young swedish folk-pop duo First Aid Kit have had a good week, first supporting Bright Eyes at Debaser Medis (and having Mike Mogis wanting to produce their next record) last Wednesday and then supporting Band Of Horses yesterday. I went to see the Band Of Horses + First Aid Kit gig last night at Annexet, a part of the Globe Arenas with a 3500 capacity.

When First Aid Kit began playing the venue was barely half full (the night was completely sold out) but as per usual First Aid Kit's sister duo Klara and Johanna Söderberg from Stockholm were excellent, supported by a solid country rock band. First Aid Kit played for roughly half an hour performing mostly songs from their debut lp The Big Black And The Blue with a few songs from the ep Drunken Trees, and "It Hurts Me Too" from their new Jack White-produced single. Highlights were "Tangerine", "Ghost Town" and the as-of-yet unreleased "The Lion's Roar", which closed the show. First Aid Kit were just as good as they were supporting Bright Eyes and they seem to be a remarkably consistent live act, and judging by "The Lion's Roar" and the attention they've been getting they're having a bright future ahead of them, and deservedly so.

Band Of Horses entered the stage to Bruce Springsteen's "Tenth Avenue Freeze-Out" and played for almost two hours. I have never understood the love and fervour they inspire in their fans, but while their records often seem a bit same-y and dull to me their live performance is really something else. The band brought an incredible amount of energy to their performance and seemed genuinely happy throughout the show, and that kind of band are always easier to appreciate. I was also very surprised by how much of the gig could be classified as arena rock (and I don't mean that as a bad thing) and after seeing them live I can easily understand why they're playing Annexet in front of 3500 people instead of Debaser Medis in front of 850 like their contemporaries. Hell, they even have something as unfashionable as a real power ballad in "No One's Gonna Love You", and adding live anthems like "The Funeral" and "The Great Salt Lake" they seem to have more in common with bands like U2 than any indie rock band.

First Aid Kit: 8/10
Band Of Horses: 8/10

Video: The National - MTV Live In NYC

The National performed a couple of songs for MTV Live In NYC and you can now view them right here. There's five videos available, one of the band performing "Fake Empire" from their 2007 album Boxer and the rest are tracks from the band's latest offering High Violet, which was released last year. The National are currently touring Europe with Sharon Van Etten as the opening act, and I'm seeing them live myself next Tuesday at Cirkus here in Stockholm.

Bloodbuzz Ohio:


Afraid Of Everyone:


Conversation 16:


Fake Empire:


Terrible Love:

Photos: Those Dancing Days, Live at Debaser Medis, Stockholm, Sweden 2011.02.19

The Those Dancing Days gig on Saturday at Debaser Medis didn't disappoint me at all. The five girls delivered their songs with a lot of energy that made it into a great show as well. They played a lot of their new songs from their upcoming album, Daydreams And Nightmares, which will be released on Friday, the 25th. I can already say that this album is going to be even better than their first album. “Reaching Forward”, which is also the second single released from their new album, was definitely the best performed song of the gig. I'll give these very talented girls 8/10 for their performance.

I managed to get some pictures, not the best quality but it's something.

Fenech-Soler announces gig at Debaser Slussen, Stockholm, Sweden 2011.03.18

March is going to be an awesome month; it's stuffed with great concerts in Stockholm! Latest added to the list is the electro-pop-disco band Fenech-Soler that I wrote about a couple of days ago. So that I'm really, really psyched about. 18th of March at Debaser Slussen is the date and place to remember if you want to see them live in Stockholm!

Kurt Vile And The Violators announce European tour

Lots of European tours today (or at least two). Kurt Vile will release his new John Agnello-produced psychedelic folk album Smoke Ring For My Halo on March 8 via Matador Records. He'll tour Europe in support of the album in May with his backing band The Violators, although he's sadly not coming to Sweden.

Listen to the track "Ghost Town" from Smoke Ring For My Halo over at Pitchfork and download the tracks the first single from the album "In My Time" and also "Jesus Fever" below.

MP3: Kurt Vile - "In My Time"
MP3: Kurt Vile - "Jesus Fever"

European tour dates:
05.08 – Cologne, Germany - King Georg
05.09 - Munich, Germany - Feierwerk
05.10 – Vienna, Austria - Chelsea Club
05.11 – Berlin, Germany - Festsaal Kreuzberg
05.12 – Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
05.13 – Aarhus, Denmark - Voxhall
05.15 – Utrecht, Netherlands - Tivoli
05.16 – Amsterdam, Netherlands - Bitterzoet
05.17 – Brussel, Belgium - Les Nuits de Botanique
05.18 – Gent, Belgium - Charlatan
05.19 – London, UK - Corsica Studios
05.20 – Liverpool, UK - Liverpool Sound City Festival
05.21 – Glasgow, UK - Stag & Dagger Festival at Captain’s Rest
05.23 - Paris, France - La Maroquinerie
05.25 – Bordeaux, France - Place Saint Michel
05.26 – Rennes, France - Top of the Folk at L’antipode
05.28 – Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
05.29 – Istanbul, Turkey - Ghetto

Queens Of The Stone Age announce European tour

Queens Of The Stone Age's self-titled debut album was originally released in 1998 but it's being re-released on March 7 this year, and the band has now announced a European tour in support of the re-release where they will perform the entire album live. The 22 date tour will take place between May 2 and May 30 will see the band visit most of Europe, including one gig here in Sweden at Cirkus in Stockholm on May 6.

Tour dates:
05.02 - Cologne, Germany - E-Werk
05.03 - Brussels, Belgium - Ancienne Belgique
05.04 - Groningen, Netherlands - Oostersport
05.06 - Stockholm, Sweden - Cirkus
05.07 - Oslo, Norway - Sentrum
05.08 - Copenhagen, Denmark - Vega
05.10 - Munich, Germany - TonHalle
05.11 - Zürich, Switzerland - Komplex 457
05.12 - Graz, Austria - Schlossberg Castle
05.14 - Eindhoven, Netherlands - Effenaar
05.15 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - Paradiso
05.17 - London, UK - Roundhouse
05.19 - Dublin, Ireland - Olympia
05.20 - Glasgow, UK - Academy
05.21 - Manchester, UK - Academy
05.23 - Paris, France - Olympia
05.24 - Antwerp, Belgium - Trix
05.25 - Strasbourg, France - La Laiterie
05.26 - Dudingen, Switzerland - Kilbi Festival
05.28 - Budapest, Hungary - Petofi Hall
05.29 - Prague, Czech Republic - KC Vltavska
05.30 - Warsaw, Poland - Stodola

(Ticket links here)

Song of the day; The National - Conversation 16

Song of the day: The National - "Conversation 16"

Remembering... Kurt Cobain 1967-1994

Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain would've turned 44 today, since he was born on February 20, 1967. Cobain and Nirvana debuted in 1988 with the single "Love Buzz" and released their first album Bleach in 1989 on Sup Pop. Their major breakthrough came with their second album Nevermind, which was released in 1991 on DGC Records (a subsidiary of Geffen Records). Nevermind turned the group into one of the biggest bands in the world and was the beginning of the grunge movement which changed the music climate in the '90s and has inspired a countless number of bands (more bad than good though). Nirvana's third studio album In Utero was released in 1993 and is the band's crowning moment, although it will forever be connected to the death of Kurt Cobain in April 1994.

Cobain had an incredibly gift for melodies which coupled with the band's indie/punk aesthetic made them into something unique, and while there's always going to be those that claim that Nirvana are only remembered because of Cobain's death, his skills as a songwriter are undeniable. It took me a long time to really warm up to Nirvana's music, but they're now one of my favourite bands and while Cobain wasn't a technically great guitarist his expressive playing always fit the songs, and had a unique twist. What really sold Nirvana for me was Cobain's vocals, which are showcased on their MTV Unplugged In New York record, and especially on their cover of Lead Belly's "Where Did You Sleep Last Night", which has one of the most impressive and chilling vocal performances I've heard.



There's no way of knowing how history would have unfolded if Cobain would still be alive but judging by the way he'd handled his career so far it would certainly have resulted in more great music, although he might very well have moved away from the mainstream career path that Nirvana were on. As it is we are left with Nirvana's legacy of three really good to great studio albums, of which In Utero is their best and most fully realized, three live albums (the aforementioned MTV Unplugged record, From The Muddy Banks Of The Wishkah and the excellent Live At Reading which was finally released in 2009) and two EP's.

Here's a video of Nirvana performing "All Apologies" from the Live At Reading DVD:


R.I.P. Kurt Cobain (February 20, 1967 - April 5, 1994)

Flashguns - "Passions Of A Different Kind"

The British band Flashguns has been on repeat on my iPod for a while now. I'm eagerly looking forward to their debut album which should be out sometime this year, hopefully in the spring. In 2010 they released an EP, Matching Hearts, Similar Parts and it is said to give you a good hint of the upcoming album. While we wait we can, for example, watch the relatively new video for the second single "Passions Of A Different Kind":