VIVA INDIE ROCK

Viva Indie Rock Podcast #5

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 15:00:00 +0000

Podcast # 5 is available for streaming online or downloading and listening at your leisure! Live broadcast radio shows are 9pm Thursdays (EST) on PMCRadio.org.

Tracklist:
1)Eux Autres Sun is Sunk Right Again
2)Tullycraft City of Subarus 8 Great Ways
3)Moonface With Sinai: Heartbreaking Bravery Teary Eyes & Bloody Lips CANADA
4)Dana Buoy Summer Bodies Call to Be
5)The Eversons The Eversons EP I'm a Conservative NEW ZEALAND
6)Tapes n' Tapes Walk It Off Le Ruse
7)Motel Beds Sunfried Dreams/Tango Boys Tropics of the Sand (w/ Kelley Deal)
8)The Temper Trap Conditions Down River AUSTRALIA
9)Tanlines Mixed Emotions Brothers
10)Bobby Conn Macaroni Underground Vktm
11)Holograms ABC City SWEDEN
12)The Unicorns Who Will Cut Our Hair When We're Gone? I Was Born (A Unicorn) CANADA
13)The Wedding Present Bizarro Kennedy UK
14)Heart-Sick Groans If the Canary Stops Singing SWEDEN
15)Clap Your Hands Say Yeah CYHSY Upon This Tidal Wave of Young Blood

La Sera - Sees The Light - Break My Heart MP3

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:48:00 +0000

Vivian Girls' Katy Goodman is back with a second release from her phenomenal solo project La Sera. The album Sees the Light is due out March 27th on Hardly Art Records. Download the great track Break My Heart for free! You would be a complete fool if you didn't!

DOWNLOAD BREAK MY HEART MP3!
Download link courtesy of Stereogum

Lambchop - Gone Tomorrow Video

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 18:08:00 +0000

Mr. M, Lambchop's new record on Merge Records, is due out Feb 21st.

I can't describe this better than they do on the Lambchop website:
"As on past Lambchop records, many of the songs on Mr. M are framed with lush strings, and there’s a restrained undercurrent of distortion and discord. The core of the music remains the cyclical picking of Wagner’s guitar and the soft, warm croaking of his voice. The songs are spacious, even dreamy, as on the Countrypolitan instrumental “Gar,” while the lyrics and titles are rich with allusions, some of them obvious, others seemingly unknowable.

Mr. M is dedicated to the late musician Vic Chesnutt, a friend, fan and collaborator, and a prodigiously gifted musician in his own right. Chesnutt’s influence looms large in Lambchop’s music: in particular, his way with words, and his uncanny ability to wrap them in music that says even more than the lyrics alone can. It makes sense, then, that a mood of loss would hang heavily over these songs."

The fourth side of the Mr. M double LP contains 4 exclusive, vinyl-only tracks, including "Guess I'm Dumb" (Brian Wilson/Glen Campbell) and 3 remixes.

Check out the great video for Gone Tomorrow.

Dana Buoy of Akron/Family to Debut Solo LP

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:19:00 +0000

Dana Buoy has spent the better part of the last decade as the percussionist for Akron/Family. Summer Bodies is due out via Lefse Records in May 2012. Buoy is also going out on tour this March w/ Youth Lagoon. See below for tour dates. In the meantime, take a second to download and listen to the terrific free MP3 Call to Be!

DOWNLOAD CALL TO BE MP3!

Tour Dates:
3/10: Urban Lounge, Salt Lake City *
3/11: Larimer Lounge, Denver *
3/12: Jackpot Music Hall, Lawrence *
3/14-3/17: SXSW
3/18: Fitzgerald's, Houston *
3/19: One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans *
3/20: Club Downunder, Tallahassee *
3/21: The Social, Orlando *
3/22: Drunken Unicorn, Atlanta *
3/23: Cat's Cradle, Carrboro *
3/24: Rock N Roll Hotel, Washington DC *
3/26: Union Transfer, Philadelphia *
3/27: Bowery Ballroom, New York *
* = w/ Youth Lagoon

Eux Autres - New Album & Free MP3!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:12:00 +0000

Terrific San Francisco indie pop band Eux Autres is back with a brand new record Sun is Sunk due out February 28th, 2012 on Bon Mots Records. Eux Autres originally consisted of brother and sister Heather and Nicholas Larimer. Heather played drums, Nicholas played guitar, and they both sang. In 2008, Eux Autres added drummer Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set, Still Flyin’) in order to expand their sound and referee their fights. Check out their free MP3 "Right Again." If you like beautiful, catchy pop tunes, you can't go wrong with Eux Autres.

DOWNLOAD RIGHT AGAIN MP3

7 Silly Questions w/ Allo Darlin'

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 20:51:00 +0000

Very few bands make me go squee anymore. The UK’s Allo Darlin’ is one. Since the first time I heard “My Heart is a Drummer” back in 2010, I was smitten. The great news is Allo Darlin’s new album Europe is due out in April on Slumberland Records in the US and Fortuna POP! in the UK. Even more exciting, Allo Darlin’ will embark on a three and a half week US tour staring on April 24th!

Allo Darlin’ is comprised of Elizabeth Morris (uke, vox), Michael Collins (drums, vox), Paul Rains (guitar, vox), & Bill Botting (bass, vox). Their website says, “They are close friends who found each other and the music they make in London.” And it’s lucky for us they did. I caught up to drummer Mike Collins in a seedy men’s restroom and forced him to answer some seriously dubious questions:

Viva: What is the most embarrassing band you loved as a kid?
MC: I guess the first band I loved, when I was about 2, was the Velvet Underground. Luckily I soon realised how embarrassing that was and quickly bought all the Meatloaf records I could find.

Viva: What was the first album you bought?
MC: The soundtrack to the Jungle Book.

Viva: Unicorns vs. Narwhals? Who would win?
MC: I guess it would be a bit weird if they met because if a Narwhal was on land it'd have some pretty serious asthma issues and vice versa for the Unicorn. My money is on the Narwhal. I love marine wildlife.

Viva: Who smells the worst in the van on tour?
MC: Mike.

Viva: What is the funniest thing that has happened to you on the road?
MC: Paul Ashley Rains having a rant on camera about tall people and how 'boring' we all were in the depths of Italy.

Viva: A wise man told me never to print anything a drummer says. Is this true?
MC: What sort of wise man? Was he a guitarist? No. Drummers are a rare, beautiful breed; modest, witty, charming and yet aloof. Oh wait, I'm the drummer. Yeah print 'SNOTTY COCK' as my answer.

Viva: Who is in heavy rotation on your iPod?
MC: Jim O Rourke 'Eureka' rarely leaves mine, it's one of my favourite records. I think we all actually end up listening to bands that we meet on tour. Now that I've got my record player fixed I've been listening a lot to Eux Autres - our San Franciscan tour buddies.

SPRING TOUR SCHEDULE:
04/24 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
04/25 Philadelphia, PA Kung Fu Necktie
04/26 Washington, DC Black Cat Backstage
04/27 Chapel Hill, NC Local 506
04/28 Atlanta, GA 529
04/30 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
05/01 Austin, TX Mohawk
05/03 Santa Fe, NM VFW
05/04 Tucson, AZ Club Congress
05/05 Los Angeles, CA Echo
05/06 San Diego, CA Casbah
05/08 San Francisco, CA Rickshaw Stop
05/10 Portland, OR Mississippi Studios
05/11 Seattle, WA Vera Project
05/14 Minneapolis, MN 7th St. Entry
05/15 Chicago, IL Schubas
05/16 Cleveland, OH Beachland Tavern
05/18 New Haven, CT Cafe Nine

*Photos by Niklas Vestberg.

Viva Indie Rock Podcast #4

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:33:00 +0000

Podcast # 4 is available for streaming online or downloading and listening at your leisure! Live broadcast radio shows are 9pm Thursdays (EST) on PMCRadio.org.

Tracklist:
1) KIDS KIDS My Sincerest Apologies SWEDEN
2) Toro Y Moi June 2009 Dead Pontoon
3) Concrete Knives You Cant Blame the Youth Brand New Start FRANCE
4) Love & Hates Love & Hates Party Trash Japan
5) Fevers Passion is Dead Passion is Dead (Long Live Fashion) CANADA
6) Nelson Can Apple Pie Denmark
7) HonheeHonhee Shouts We Only Go CANADA
8) Beach Fossils Shallow 7” Shallow
9) The Bland Band Palsboda Jam SWEDEN
10) Miracles of Modern Science Dog Year Friends of the Animals
11) Prinzhorn Dance School Clay Class Happy in Bits UK
12) The Big Pink Future This Give it Up
13) The Hairs I’ve Been Working Out 7” I’ve Been Working Out
14) Pop Terror Dom släpper nog in dig SWEDEN

KIDS - My Sincerest Apologies Video & Free EP!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:36:00 +0000

Kontroll Recordings is giving away a fantastic EP from Swedish duo KIDS. The band consists of Jonas Linngård and Maria Pettersson. The songs were recorded in living room studios in Stockholm, Alfta and Hiboviken. To be honest, I have not been able to get My Sincerest Apologies out of my head since I first heard it. The guitar tone on the riff is so wet and nasty and fantastic that I fell in love immediately.

Download the enitre EP here: Kontroll Recordings

Bonnie Prince Billy - Black Cab Sessions - Black Captain

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:00:00 +0000

Black Cab Sessions is a great tv show in the UK that features musicians performing in the back seat of a moving taxi. It's coming to the US soon, too!

Magnetic Fields - Andrew in Drag Video & Tour Dates!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:46:00 +0000

Catch Magnetic Fields on Tour!

Mar 6 Hudson, NY Helsinki Hudson
Mar 7 Philadelphia, PA Union Transfer
Mar 11 Minehead, UK All Tomorrow’s Parties
Mar 14, 15, 16 Austin, TX SXSW
Mar 18 Vancouver, BC The Vogue
Mar 19 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
Mar 20 Seattle, WA Neptune Theater
Mar 21 Portland, OR Roseland Theater
Mar 23 Los Angeles, CA Orpheum Theater
Mar 24 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Mar 26 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
Mar 27 Chicago, IL Vic Theater
Mar 28 Iowa City, IA Englert Theater
Mar 30 Toronto, ON Sound Academy
Mar 31 Montreal, QC Le National
Apr 3 New York, NY Beacon Theater
Apr 6 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Apr 7 Boston, MA Berklee Performance Center
Apr 9 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
Apr 11 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Apr 12 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Apr 14 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse

You can pre-order Love At the Bottom of the Sea on CD or LP here: Merge Store

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart Live Concert Footage!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 12:59:00 +0000

I came back from vacation to find our pals at Grandcrew.com have posted another amazing concert - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart live at Eurockeennes in Belfort France. You can see the entire concert here: Pains of Being Pure at Heart!

Lou Barlow Online Documentary "Making Of Goodnight Unknown"

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:35:00 +0000

A new 30-minute video documenting the process of making Goodnight Unknown, the upcoming Lou Barlow album premiered on The Onion AV Club and is now available on LooTube. This behind-the-scenes vignette is the first in a series of videos from Goodnight Unknown that will be unveiled weekly until its October 6 release date.

First MP3 From New Daniel Johnston Album!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Daniel Johnston is back with his first album in 6 years Is And Always Was (due out Oct 6th)! If the track "Freedom" is any indication, this could well be Johnston's best album ever. On this album, Daniel allied with the musician and producer Jason Falkner, who is known for his own stellar solo career as well as his work with Beck, Air, and Paul McCartney. We will do a full review of the album as the release date draws closer. For now, enjoy "Freedom."

Download Freedom MP3!

The Music Tapes - For the Planet Pluto Video

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 19:19:00 +0000

On its way to you in a triumphant spiral of zeros and ones through that strange nether universe from which all things computery come is the new Music Tapes video, “For the Planet Pluto.”

Featuring the tasteful backup vocals of the 4th graders of Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA, "For the Planet Pluto" stars Kiran Fernandes and Sophie Fernandes, reunited for the first time since starring in the movie Major Organ and the Adding Machine, except that they are brother and sister and live together. It also features a comic turn from Kevin Barnes as "The Slightly Sinister Father," a departure from the more serious roles he has become famous for in the videos of the modern rock band Of Montreal.

Tags: the music tapes for the planet pluto video

The Woods - The Final Breaths of a Main Character Video + Free EP!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:24:00 +0000

The Woods began in 2006 as the bedroom recording project of songwriter and visual artist, Ian Dudley. The musical project, named after Ian's imaginative perspective on Tallahassee, Florida, grew to include over 30 friends and family members who all contributed to the band's self-titled debut, released in May 2008 by Plug Research Records. The album musically narrates a story of a boy whose faulty air conditioning sends him on a high seas adventure. With true artistic craftsmanship, the album was released packaged in actual books, as well as sold on iTunes. The tale the album told was brought to life in 2009 with a music video for the song "The Final Breaths of a Main Character," featuring illustrations by Ian Dudley and directed by Raul B. Fernandez.

After a short tour in the summer of 2008, the paths of The Woods' residents diverged. Feeling a sense that the debut album was merely the first chapter in a very long book, The Woods, with the help of modern technology, compiled foggy memories and scattered instrumentation from six cities across these United States to create The EP Logue, released for free online on June 22nd, 2009. Inspired by possessions, locations, youth, distance and pack-rats, The EP Logue completes the story that began in Tallahassee with Ian Dudley and friends. Although the core group of musicians that contributed to both albums plan to continue to write and play together, The Woods will be left behind for new landscapes and stories.

Download The EP Logue Free

Side Note: The Woods realize that the band WOODS has gotten so big and so popular that they will be changing their name for all future projects!

Vic Chesnutt/Elf Power European Tour Video Episode 1

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 23:58:00 +0000

I got this great email in my box today. The video is really great, so I thought I'd just share the email with you as is:

Hello. This is Jimmy from the band Elf Power. We got to tour Europe this past Spring with Vic Chesnutt in support of our collabaorate album together called Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power and The Amorphous Strums "Dark Developments" Orange Twin Records, 2009). We were in Europe for 3 weeks coming straight off of a REM Tribute show that we played in NYC at Carnegie Hall. Vic had his personal camera with him on the trip and filmed 11 tapes worth of footage while we were on tour (with Laura Carter and myself also filming from time to time, but the footage is 90% shot by Vic himself). After tour, I brought the tapes home and sifted through them. Realizing that whatever I did with them would be way too long to hold the attention span of today's YouTube generation, with the task of editing these tapes into a tour video I decided to break them down into episodes, the first of which can be viewed here:

Episode 1 takes us from NYC to Den Haag, Netherlands with a travel day inbetween. I already have 2 more episodes complete and plan on posting them in intervals, maybe one per month, until the series is complete (i am guessing by the end there will probably be about 8 episodes). It was a fun trip and we're all excited to share the videos with friends and fans.

So why am I telling you all of this? Well, I am just trying to let some people know that this video (and forthcoming series) exists and I am trying to get the word out to whoever is interested. So if anyone would like to post about this anywhere on the world-wide-web then we would apprciate it.

Hope you like the video.

Jimmy - Vic Chesnutt, Elf Power, and The Amorphous Sturms

Princeton - Cocoon of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 14:02:00 +0000

Los Angeles-based Princeton is releasing their debut record, Cocoon of Love, September 29th on Kanine Records. Growing up on Princeton Street in Santa Monica, the group now lives in an aging green house on a hillside in the Eagle Rock district of LA where their album was recorded. Take a second to listen to or download the beautiful song "Calypso Gold." The entire album is full of wonderful pop gems.

Download Calypso Gold MP3!

Tags:princeton cocoon of love calypso gold mp3

Why? Live in Paris Concert Footage!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:52:00 +0000

Thanks to our pals at Grandcrew, we gladly present you Why? playing live in Paris at the Colors Music Festival! It's really frigging awesome. The clip below is the song "The Hollows." The full concert is 16 amazing songs. Check out the whole thing here: WHY? LIVE!

Circulatory System - Signal Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 13:38:00 +0000

After The Olivia Tremor Control went on hiatus, songwriter W. Cullen Hart's first step was to create the Circulatory System. Featuring members of the former Olivias and other notable Elephant 6 luminaries, the Circulatory System's self-titled first album explored themes of the larger and the smaller, the here and the far away, and the now and the forever.

Seven and a half years in the making, culled from hours of recorded material sculpted in at least seven different studios, the new Circulatory System album is an absolutely stellar document of song and sound. Still concerned with matters of the inner/the outer, the incomprehensibly huge and the very, very small, Signal Morning is an imperative blast of kinetic motion. Composed by W. Cullen Hart while in the midst of battling Multiple Sclerosis within his own system, the new album finds Hart broadcasting his urgent pleas to the world(s) to evolve into a higher dimension, or for existing patterns to reveal themselves at peace within the natural order of the universe.

Featuring all the members of The Olivia Tremor Control, as well as Jeff Mangum and Julian Koster of Neutral Milk Hotel, Signal Morning has been eagerly anticipated since the release of the first Circulatory System record earlier this decade. The album is due out on Cloud Recordings in CD and Digital format on Sept 9th. The vinyl release will be in October.

Download Overjoyed MP3!

Tags: circulatory system overjoyed mp3 signal morning

Music Go Music - Warm in the Shadows Live on Face Time!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 10:46:00 +0000

Keeping with our recent weekend disco theme, here's a great live performance from Music Go Music performing on Face Time. Their new album Expressions is due out Oct. 6th. Get out your mirrored ball!

Sonya Cotton - Red River

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 11:25:00 +0000

Sonya Cotton is one of the finest singer/songwriters of our time. Her latest album Red River (due out on Sept 1st) is one of the most peaceful, delicate, and beautiful recordings I have ever heard. Perhaps the best compliment I can give her is I would trade in my Joanna Newsom records to be able to listen to her on a quiet, contemplative day. Every track on Red River is pretty much perfect. Our favorites include "Brother and I", "Canal", and "Sickness." Be sure to follow the link below to a great podcast of Sonya Cotton performing or, at the very least, take some time and investigate Sonya Cotton on your own.

Watch Sonya Cotton on Chasing the Moon Podcast

Tags: sonya cotton red river

7 Silly Questions w/ Clock Hands Strangle!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:15:00 +0000

Clock Hands Strangle hail from the semi-moist, manatee ridden state of Florida. The same state that has given us such horrendous acts such as Limp Bizkit, Creed, and 'N Sync. All jokes aside, it is fascinating that such a well versed, literate bunch of indie folk/roots rockers would spring up from a state that has devalued it's grade school education system in hopes of retaining it's larger population of retirees and tourists.

Download Distaccati MP3!
Download Desert Music (Live) MP3!

In June, Clock Hands Strangle released their latest album Distaccati. In an interview with Groupee.com, primary songwriter Todd Portnowitz explains his writing process for the album as such, "...most of the lyrics on Distaccati came about as a reaction to reading a slew of modern literature, writers like T.S. Eliot, who said that an artist must 'destroy his personality' to create anything substantial. I understand the notion—it’s the same for a scientist, who must completely remove his subjective self from the experiment in order to reduce the amount of bias in the results; but I only agree with it in part. Writing this album was a way to wrestle with that question - how much of yourself should be in art? How much should be pure, removed observation?" Even the word Distaccati itself means 'detached' in Italian.

We caught up with these thoughtful gentlemen via in the internet and persuaded them to answer a few of our highly suspect questions....

Viva: What's the most embarrassing band you loved as a kid?
Todd: Ace of Base. Had the CD and tape. What you gonna tell your dad, it’s like a wheel of fortune.
Brian: Stryper.
Nick: Probably DC Talk.
Cristian: Coolio.
Adam: Skankin’ Pickle.

Viva: Who smells the worst in van after a show?
Todd: Nick. And as a side note, I still stand by my wager that I could go five days on the road without a shower and still smell sweet.
Brian: A tie between Cristian after two days or Nick's beef jerky.
Nick: I think it's between Adam and Cristian. One always smells worse than the other.
Cristian: Me.
Adam: Nick.

Viva: More frightening clock: Doomsday or Biological?
Todd: Biological, but I was always more afraid of the whole atomic time vs. earth time (time measured by an accurate cesium clock vs. time measured by the earth’s rotation). I remember reading an article about how in the 70s they had to add two “leap seconds” in order to make the two clocks agree, so that our satellites would be coordinated, and GPS systems would continue to function. I believe there was even an entire week lost in Great Britain at some point way back in the day, from trying to coordinate atomic time and earth time. People were protesting in the streets, fighting for their week back.
Brian: I don't have a menstrual cycle ... So doomsday.
Nick: Biological. You should see Nick Sr.
Cristian: Doomsday.
Adam: Neither. I welcome male pattern baldness, the returning of Christ, and my ascension into the kingdom of heaven.

Viva: What's the funniest thing that has happened to you on the road?
Todd: I think we were in Champaign-Urbana, and someone’s girlfriend straightened my hair. We put on a little mascara and went and took fake emo pictures out by these abandoned railroad tracks, pretending to look like we’d just listened to The Used for three hours and were all suffering from metaphorical “wounds to the heart.” Some of the pictures are still circulating online. I’m not sure anyone ever got the joke, so there’s probably people out there who think we’re really that lame . . . I guess I don’t blame them.
Brian: Nick getting punched repeatedly after fooling around with this dude’s girlfriend in Tulsa, OK.
Nick: Hard to choose, but I would say the time we were in D.C., staying at a hotel with Brian's family, and his Mom walked in on Todd just as he was going to pee in the kitchen sink . . .
Cristian: We stayed with this girl who thought we were going to steal her cat (apparently it had happened three times), she also warned us to “keep the volume down” if there was going to be any sex (it was only the five of us staying there) . . . she was strange, to put it mildly. Later in the night Nick and Todd went upstairs to her room to ask for pillows and both came back downstairs with these traumatized faces. For a little while they wouldn’t say what happened, and just sat there blank-faced. The suspense, waiting to hear what sort of whacked out shit they’d seen, was the funniest thing ever.
Adam: Almost dying on an icy highway, driving from Toronto to Chicago.

Viva: What's the last concert you attended?
Todd: Silver Jews w/ Monotonix
Brian: mewithoutyou in Tampa
Nick: Was at the mewithoutyou show with Brian and Cris.
Cristian: mewithoutyou
Adam: Radiohead

Viva: Who's in heavy rotation on your iPod?
Todd: Eric Dolphy – Out to Lunch, and The Complete Prestige Recordings.
Brian: The new Clem Snide album and the new Joan of Arc.
Nick: I don't have an ipod.
Cristian: Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young.
Adam: Phantom Buffalo.

Viva: What was the worst fight over nothing that you got into with each other after being road weary and exhausted?
Todd: Nick and I had a long and bitter argument over the difference between a “bite” and a “taste.” In New York, Nick purchased this giant, amazing-looking burrito, and I asked for a “bite” so that I could “taste” it. He assumed that my asking for a “bite,” implied that I was hungry, but too cheap pay for a burrito. Really I just wanted a “taste,” so I could see how tasty the burrito was. The “bite,” in my belief, was just a necessary evil for exploring the “taste.” Twenty minutes later the burrito was gone and I never got a taste. Or a bite. This argument continues. I mean, we’d go to different bars and all order different beers, and occasionally we’d “sip” each other’s beers in order to “taste” them, so that our next decision would be more informed. What’s the difference between a beer and a burrito? I support tasting in all forms, wholeheartedly, and affirm with great conviction that neither hunger, nor greed, nor thriftiness, play a role in the tasting process. “To expand the pallet is to expand the mind,” as William Howard Taft once said. I wanted that burrito…
Brian: Either Cristian’s bad driving or Todd’s horrible navigating.
Nick: We don't fight really, just know how to push each others buttons. Although there were a few pretty good fights when a couple of us brought our girlfriends with us on tour.
Cristian: Whether or not to eat at Cracker Barrel at the end of our last tour.
Adam: I got absurdly angry with Brian and Nick in St. Paul, MN because they started trying to help pack up my drums immediately following a show. I have my methods.

Why? Announce Fall Tour, New Album!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 12:39:00 +0000

Why? is one of the most intelligent, thoughtful bands ever to grace indie rock. They have just announced their Fall tour schedule supporting the release of their 4th, and perhaps most poignant, album Eskimo Snow (due out 9/22). Take a listen to the MP3 "This Blackest Purse." It's a bit of a departure from last year's Alopecia, but surprisingly, they recorded both albums at the same time deliberately making the albums each others' opposite. Whether you are already a Why? fan or not, when you hear this record, you will be instantly in love.

Download This Blackest Purse MP3!

09/24 Cincinnati, OH Northside Tavern *
09/26 New York, NY Le Poisson Rouge / Wordless Music Series +
10/01 Cambridge, MA Middle East #%
10/02 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church #%
10/03 Pittsburgh, PA Assembly Room, William Pitt Union FREE SHOW #%
10/04 Ann Arbor, MI The Blind Pig #%
10/05 Chicago, IL Bottom Lounge #%
10/06 Madison, WI UW Madison Terrace #%
10/07 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock #%
10/09 Denver, CO Bluebird #%
10/10 Salt Lake City, UT In The Venue #%
10/13 Annacortes, WA Department of Safety &$
10/14 Seattle, WA The Vera Project &$
10/15 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom &$
10/17 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall *%$
10/20 Los Angeles, CA Echoplex *%
10/23 Phoenix, AZ Modified Arts *%
10/24 Tucson, AZ Club Congress *%
10/26 Denton, TX Hailey's *%
10/28 Birmingham, AL Bottletree *%
10/29 Asheville, NC Grey Eagle *%
10/30 Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle *%
10/31 Atlanta, GA Lenny's %^@
11/02 Orlando, FL The Social %!
11/03 Gainesville, FL Common Grounds %!
11/04 Tallahassee, FL Club Downunder %!
11/06 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon %~
11/07 Houston, TX Walter's On Washington %~
11/08 Austin, TX Fun Fun Fun Fest
11/10 Lawrence, KS Jackpot Music Hall %~
11/11 St. Louis, MO Firebird %~
11/13 Bloomington, IN Rhino's Youth Center ~

* = w/ Serengeti and Polyphonic
# = w/ Dark Dark Dark
% = w/ AU
& = w/ No Kids
$ = w/ Mount Eerie
^ = w/ Jemina Pearl
@ = w/ Islands
! = w/ James Husband
~ = w/ The Moore Brothers
+ = w/ Owen Weaver with Flexible Music

Tags:why? eskimo snow

Vic Chesnutt "Chain" MP3 + Fall Tour!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:37:00 +0000

This fall Vic Chesnutt will embark on a six-week North American tour in support of At the Cut, the Athens, GA-based singer-songwriter’s latest effort. The touring band features Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto and members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Silver Mt. Zion, all of whom collaborated with Chesnutt on the new album which is out September 22 on Constellation Records. "Chain" is a great preview of what is to come!

Download Chain MP3!

October 23 Mavericks Ottawa, ON
October 24 Ukranian Federation Hall Montreal, QC
October 25 Sommerville Theater Cambridge, MA
October 26 Bowery Ballroom New York, NY
October 27 Music Hall of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
October 28 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, PA
October 29 Ottobar Baltimore, MD
October 30 Black Cat Washington, DC
October 31 The Soapbox Wilmington, NC
November 1 The EARL Atlanta, GA
November 2 40 Watt Club Athens, GA
November 4 Southgate House Newport, KY
November 5 Lincoln Hall Chicago, IL
November 6 Detroit Institute of Arts Detroit, MI
November 7 Lee’s Palace Toronto, ON
November 19 Cedar Cultural Center Minneapolis, MN
November 20 West End Cultural Centre Winnipeg, MB
November 21 Amigo’s Saskatoon, SK
November 22 McDougall United Church Edmonton, AB
November 23 Knox United Church Calgary, AB
November 25 Richards on Richards Vancouver, BC
November 26 Lucky Bar Victoria, BC
November 27 Crocodile Seattle, WA
November 28 Mississippi Studios Portland, OR
November 30 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
December 1 The Regent Los Angeles, CA
December 2 Club Congress Tucson, AZ
December 4 Hailey’s Denton, TX
December 5 Central Presbyterian Church Austin, TX

Tags: vic chesnutt chain mp3

Free Lou Barlow MP3! Gravitate!

noreply@blogger.com (Viva Indie!) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 14:59:00 +0000

Merge Records is kind enough to give us all a free MP3 of the track "Gravitate" from the upcoming Lou Barlow release Goodnight Unknown due out on October 6th! It's pretty great. We are really excited about the record.

Download Lou Barlow's Gravitate MP3

Tags: lou barlow gravitate mp3