Know how the White House issues those “Talking Points” for the press every week? I think they’re doing it for music sites now too. Something must have gone out this week that said:

UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR ASS SHIPPED DOWN TO GUANTANAMO, WE SUGGEST YOU POST THE FOLLOWING:

1. OMG, JEFF MANGUM POSTED ON A BULLETIN BOARD!

2. OMG, SLEATER-KINNEY BROKE UP!

3. OMG, HAVE YOU HEARD THAT GIRL TALK ALBUM?! (Whoops - guilty).

Coming soon: Time Magazine Top Story - Jeff Mangum Seen In Cafe, Eating Sandwich! Film At Eleven!

Anyway…

Know what I was thinking? How sometimes, the best time you can hear a band is when they’re still totally fresh, just a little bit raw, like the little baby birdy what just cracked out the egg (but with an amp). Sure, the quality might be a little lo-er than lo-fi, but still, if you listen, you can still catch that little spark…

Antarctica Takes It are from Santa Cruz, CA, and I just got their lovingly-handmade-packaged homebrewed album, The Penguin League. This is dance and sing, hug your friends, march around, kiss the girl, clap your hands (and say yeah) kind of music. I once referred to Richmond, VA’s Great White Jenkins as “A Jake-Legged, Brokedown, Marching Symphony,” and I’m gonna christen Antarctica Takes It “A Jake-Legged, Brokedown, Marching Symphony…On Uppers.”

::: Antarctica Takes It - Circuits :::

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world (er, kinda, I think (C+ in Geography)), we’ve got London’s Screaming Tea Party.

Frenetic and sweaty here, as opposed to exuberant, but good shit, yeah. I have to thank my good friends over at Stolen for introducing me to this “Half Tokyo, Half Italian” band.

::: Screaming Tea Party - Between Air and Air :::

And with that, we’re off. Meet you back here on July 5th, with a new mix (July banner artist, I hope you’re reading this), and, god willing, a couple crates of CBR 005 to get out to you guys.

Much as I like Final Fantasy, I must confess that I never actually suspected that a lone Canadian on the stage with a violin could be one of the best shows I’ve seen all year. But my god, man. Owen Pallett is just simply enthralling, from the moment one, to moment one-hundred. He had me so transfixed that, for the duration of his set, I momentarily forgot that I was standing in the wet, subtropical ground-floor basement known as Tonic.

J remarked afterward that Owen’s voice is like that of an angel. I thought that a fitting comment, considering that, as he played, I conjured this sublime image in my head: that striking young lad, standing under the hot lights, clad in heavy armor from shoulder to shoulder, beautiful white feathered wings outspread behind him, flaming violin at his cheek.

And I’m sure all those LARPers in the audience would have agreed, too.

Owen’s got just a handful of remaining North American dates, so do what you gotta do:

6/27 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom
6/28 Columbus, OH - Little Brothers
6/29 Cincinnati, OH - Alchemize

6/30 North Manchester, IN - The Firehouse
7/1 Chicago, IL - Lakeshore Theatre

7/8 Montreal, QC - Metropolis

Seen Studio has a really nice looking new book of art/photo/collage by Black Dice and Jason Frank Rothenberg called Gore that you might want to check out, if you like that sorta thing. “Art,” I mean.

Hey, can someone call up the EFF and tell them to get a case file ready for Girl Talk? Because that dude’s about to have about 9,000 uptight label suits yelling at his ass. The guy samples everything from James Taylor to the Pixies to LCD SS to BoyzIIMenABCBBD (The East Coast Fam-i-lee). His new album, Night Ripper, ain’t a mash-up, it’s a fucking 80-car collision. And I do agree with SCTAS; Biggie over a tweaked-up “Tiny Dancer” is a thing of beauty.

::: Girl Talk - Hold Up :::
::: Girl Talk - Bounce That :::

And you thought that Gnarles Barklay dude was crazy when he did that Beatlemania album or whatever.

Well, 2 mentions of Dark Side Of The Cop in 2 days on 2 different websites is enough to pique my interest (which means, yes, just hearing that it was originally intended as an all-new alternate soundtrack to Beverly Hills Cop wasn’t enough). The Mp3 is pretty decent; a modern indie-strum over 80’s synths:

::: Dark Side Of The Cop - Shaky Little Rules :::

Seems like everyone’s gettin’ MIDI Evil on our asses these days. That opening sequence sounded so familiar to me, but I think it’s just because I’ve been listening to Chris Hemstad’s Das Kometen* songs too much. Next month, he’s releasing a 9-song Das Kometen CDR on his Bat Boogie label.

(* I don’t advise clicking that Das Kometen link unless you’re fairly sure you can handle pseudo-homoerotic porny webcam product shots.)

Everybody check out the new Mountain Goats track on that Pfork Emusic sampler thing? It’s the first mp3 from the upcoming Get Lonely disc, out 8/22:

::: The Mountain Goats - Woke Up New :::

Pre-orders for the Merge re-release of Spoon’s Telephono/Soft Effects package start this Wednesday. Granted, Telephono is my least favorite Spoon record, but it’s been out of print for a damn long time now, and I’m sure lots of people are anxious to get a copy, so there you go.

A big congratulations to Jarid, Steve, & co. of Unbunny. You guys have finally “made it!” And by “made it,” I mean your album was featured in latest issue of Vogue China.

You kids like the Grandaddy, don’t ye? Because I’ve got buttons and posters to give away, if you wanna submit yr email for a drawing for ‘em:

[form removed ]

The farewell album, Just Like The Fambly Cat, just came out last month, you know. And here’s the new video for the song “Where I’m Anymore”.

It’s weird to see that video, considering the new Das Kometen video that Chris from Hemstad sent over a few weeks ago.

Remember, back in the 90’s, when grunge broke, and there was this
whole slew of bands leading the charge– Nirvana, Soundgarden,
Mudhoney, etc.? And you liked a lot of them…I mean, they were
good bands. Sure, they were just borrowing from older
influences, like Sabbath or the Stooges or whatever, but that’s just
how rock and roll works; the new sounds are always informed by those
that preceded them.

But then, after that first or second wave of bands, you started to get
that next wave; the “copies of copies,” like Stone Temple Pilots, or
Collective Soul, or Creed. And sure, technically, they met all
the same criteria as those earlier bands, but still, they were just…
a bit hollow. They just lacked… something. Like a xerox of a xerox, the
important details got lost, and you were left with this sort of bland
facsimile of something better.

Take note, Indie Rock is in that same phase right now.

Did I forget to mention yesterday that Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin signed to Polyvinyl? Whoops!

That debut record from that band The Donkeys (tour with Band of Horses, anybody? (are equine names the new lupine names? (I call dibs on “The Burros”))) is pretty good. I’d say it lives in the same landscape as that first dios record and MMJ’s At Dawn. And that’s all I’m gonna say about it, because SCTAS has already said everything else. Try this track on for size, and if you “get” it, then you should go pick up the whole disc over at Antenna Farm:

::: The Donkeys - In The Morning :::

I know Pfork has mentioned Acuarela’s new EPs by both Xiu Xiu and Frog Eyes, but it’s worth mentioning that they also have a brand new EP from June Panic, called Bellybuttonless Boy, which I think is his first release of material since 2003.

Hey, Tim pointed out that there was a new funked-up techno-y remix of the Envelopes‘ “I Don’t Even Know” up on the Envelopes Myspace.

Lattney B. from Grumpy Bear has a lo-fi-y lil’ side-project called Holly and the Dead Saints; you can download some tracks from the Myspace page right here. And here’s a good ‘un right here:

::: Holly and the Dead Saints - Mourning Lane :::

There’s no Holly disc completed as yet, but I should mention that the Boo Hiss/Grumpy Bear split on Tract will be out soon.

Dude. I was looking at the new release list for 06/27, and I got down to “W”, and this is what I saw:

Warrant - Born Again
White Lion - Anthology ‘83-’89
Whitesnake - Gold 2x CD

What the fuck happened to Winger is what I’m thinking.

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin is on a West-Coast tour, starting tonight. As always, I advise you to attend; you will not be sorry. And don’t forget to request “Mr. Wendel” when Philip is on the mic.

6/13 - Tuscon, AZ - Club Congress
6/14 - San Diego, CA - Casbah
6/15 - Los Angeles, CA - Troubadour
6/16 - San Francisco, CA - The Independent
6/17 - Sacramento, CA - The Blue Lamp
6/19 - Vancouver, BC - The Red Room
6/20 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile Cafe
6/21 - Portland, OR - Berbati’s Pan
6/23 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kayo Gallery
6/24 - Denver, CO - High Dive
6/26 - Minneapolis, MN - 400 Bar
6/27 - Chicago, IL - Schuba’s
6/28 - St. Louis, MO - Hi Pointe

(* all shows w/Sound Team)

Less-observant Yeltsin fans may have missed that the latest issue of Things That Are True (a lovely little publication out of Springfield) comes with a CD featuring three tracks from Springfield’s own Nathaniel Carroll, and three tracks from SSLYBY. Two of the Yeltsin tracks are previously unreleased (unless you subscribe to the SSLYBY tape club), and one track is from our out-of-print first Catbird Records release, CBR 001.

From what I’m reading, it seems like, after 5 years, the Hidden Cameras are finally getting the love they’ve always deserved. Unfortunately, all this buzz is centering around a record that won’t be out for at least another 3 months, and in that time, I’m sure the momentum will slow. This reminds me of my theory that record labels should put the digital album up for sale at the same time the promos go out, but I don’t want to digress, I just want to pass along Hidden Cams news. So. The new disc, Awoo. Depending on where you live, it’s either out on August 4th, 9th, or 15th, or September 5th or 19th. Yes, we in the US get the short end, we’re the September 19th date.

The tracklist, if you care about such things:

Death of a Tune
Awoo
She’s Gone
Lollipop
Fee Fie
Learning the Lie
Follow These Eyes
Heji
Heaven Turns To
Wandering
For Fun
Hump from Bending
the Waning Moon

A UK-only 7″ of “Awoo” b/w “Why I Understand” will be out on Rough Trade on 9/30.

Also out soon: A 10″ vinyl of the Cams’ debut, Ecce Homo on UK label Earworm. It’s either red vinyl or a picture-disc, I can’t figure out which. Limited to 650 copies.

And don’t forget the CD release of the previously vinyl-only Arms Of His Ill album of four-track Mississauga Goddam demos/companion pieces. Out on Absolutely Kosher on 7/18.

Tour Dates:

6/18 Gothenburg, Sweden - Joel Gibb and Jens Lekman performing as a duo @ Kulturhuset Underjorden
6/23 NYC, NY - Joel Gibb, Jay Brannan, Gentleman Reg, Clint Michigan, DJ Stephin Merritt @ Joe’s Pub
7/5 Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church
7/6 Brooklyn, NY - Prospect Park, w/ Broken Social Scene
7/21 Detroit , MI - Magic Stick
7/22 Chicago, IL - Wicker Park Festival
7/28-7/30 Guelph, ON - Hillside Festival, w/ Feist, Sarah Harmer, The Stills, Jason Collett, The Constantines
8/12 Kingston, ON - Wolfe Island, w/ The Constantines, Wintersleep, Great Lake Swimmers, John Rae & the River
9/2-9/3 Montreal, QC - Parc Jean Drapeau, Osheaga Festival

I was so stoked to see them at SXSW a few years ago, but Joel Gibb got detained at the border. That sucked.

Anyway, for the few of you out there that aren’t familiar with the Hidden Cams, I shall explain thusly: If the Magnetic Fields are the hand-holding, stolen-kisses of Brokeback Mountain, then the Hidden Cameras are the zoom-lensed, sweaty, man-on-man action of HOT RODS AND MAN HOLES VOL. 69.

Our super-cool friends over at Stolen Recordings in the UK sent over a copy of the upcoming Pete and the Pirates EP, Wait Stop Begin. Lovely, lovely handmade packaging on this one (as ever), and some damn fine music on the disc to boot! For those unfamiliar, I’ll pirate Artrocker’s P & the P’s description: “There are folk bits, Byrdsy harmony bits, kraut-rock frug-outs, punk blasts of power, and superb pop moments all segued and strewn together carelessly but precisely.” Here’s a track:

::: Pete and the Pirates - This Thyme :::

And this track’s not on the disc, but I’ve always really dug it:

::: Pete and the Pirates - Nuana :::

And did I mention that Thomas Tap Tap is in Pete and the Pirates?

Wait Stop Begin will be officially released (in the UK) on July 31st. Don’t worry, I’ll remind you.

The unwashed/uncombed crunchrock of Ladyhawk’s debut on Jagjaguwar comes out this week.

::: Ladyhawk - Dugout :::

Chris from Hemstad has set up a sort of e-labely page where you can download tracks from his kooky electrodisco Das Kometen project, as well as an online EP from Hemstad bandmate James Ausfahrt.

Judging by the fact that Good Hodgkins has posted an mp3 of the title track, I’m assuming that the Hidden Cameras new one, Awoo, has leaked. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a long damn time, because I love the Hidden Cameras so very, very much (but not in a gay way).

On June 23rd, you can catch the Hidden Cam’s Joel Gibb at the Boys Of Melody Nite at Joe’s Pub NYC. The amazingly-talented Gentleman Reg will also be appearing. And I suppose that having Owen Pallett on that bill would have made it TOO gay and TOO Canadian, so they’ve opted instead to round out the evening with a DJ set from Stephin Merritt. Yes, still pretty gay, just not so Canadian. In any case, though, it sounds like a great show. Now the only question is: can I score a cheap plane fare in time? (NOTE: Final Fantasy *is* however, playing Tonic on the 24th. I would imagine that Joel, Reg, &c. would likely show up at that gig though, so yes, super-gay, super-Canadian fun may just happen after all.)

And hey, the track that Sean has posted over at StG by Ola Podrida, called “Instead”, is lovely, in a 70’s acousticological singer-songwriter kind of way; you should go check it out.