Fanatic Promotion: September 2007

www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com

Friday, September 21, 2007

Zombi keyboardist/bassist Steve Moore brings solo debut to life via Relapse Records.

Steve Moore, best known for his work as one half of the sci-fi instrumental duo Zombi, has announced the forthcoming release of his first solo effort The Henge via extreme music label Relapse Records (Mastodon, Pig Destroyer, High On Fire.) In contrast to Zombi's tightly structured nightmare epics, The Henge is a huge, sprawling, psychedelic symphonic affair. Over the course of its five tracks, the album treats listeners to a blissful dose of audio vertigo, by mixing vast ambient dronescapes and soaring beat driven melodies with Moore's patented cinematic brand of keyboard virtuosity.

Relapse will issue The Henge in late October, a fitting choice for Moore's horror-movie style songs. Moore describes his approach to the self-recorded album saying, “this album represents a turning point in my writing - a subtle shift in direction that is only apparent when considering the album as a whole. While no track is too far removed from the harmonic language I create through my work with Zombi, this album gives me a chance to expand my tonal palette by experimenting with different instrumentations.”

“The album is meant to be viewed as a small step in a new direction, exploring some of the more ambient, drone-oriented ideas I've written over the last couple years,” Moore explains. “Although I always enjoy collaborative writing, the challenge of single-handedly developing an idea from conception to completion can sometimes be an even more rewarding experience.”

In addition to his works with Zombi, Moore has also recorded material with Microwaves and Panthers, as well as been involved in a number of scores for independent horror movies including “The Redsin Tower” (a collaboration with Scott Hull of Pig Destroyer and Agoraphobic Nosebleed), “Horror Business”, “Murder-Set-Pieces” (as Zombi), “Home Sick” (as Zombi) and more.

That Moore (b. 1975) makes his home an hour north of NYC in the misty Hudson River Valley—just across from Washington Irving's legendary Sleepy Hollow—seems maybe too coincidental. As one-half of Zombi, in which he plays synthesizer and bass guitar, the Pittsburgh native's affinity for unsettling mood and motif is well-documented over the band's two self-released EPs and three Relapse releases.

Zombi provided Moore with the chance to turn his blood-red obsession with U.S. and Italian horror films of the 1970s and 1980s into his own brand of cinema for the ears—preferably ones capped with headphones in a darkened room, black candles optional. Armed with a bank of analog equipment and with drummer A.E. Paterra aboard, Moore drew evenly from his years of university music study as well as cassette-tape pedagogy under horror-soundtrack composers John Carpenter, Fabio Frizzi and Goblin. Gradually, Moore's infusion of Zombi's music with progressive-rock elements reached an apex with the Cosmos album. Arrangements growing in scope and ambition, fusion-informed rhythmic complexity, and even the odd keyboard solo and anachronistic MIDI sequence recalled not only the mid-1980s AOR-prog of Rush, but also the works of Tangerine Dream and Jan Hammer.

More recently, Moore's appreciation for 1970 and 80s AM gold—which runs far deeper than mere kitsch—has surfaced. To wit: the Italo-disco inflected “Sapphire,” named by Cybernetic Broadcasting System as one of the top 100 dance tracks, has been featured on the mix CDs Go Commando With James !@$%^ Friedman (on Defend Music, also featuring tracks by Annie, Bloc Party and The Knife), and Cosmo Galactic Prism, (Eskimo Recordings, also featuring Hawkwind, Bob James, Boards of Canada and Parliament.) As a sideman, Moore has played guitar with Red Sparowes on a recent US/Canada tour, and has contributed Hammond B-3 organ to the latest Panthers album.

Moore's solo debut is a quantum leap toward Grand Unification among electronica fans, prog revivalists, post-metallers, and new-age audiophiles.

The Henge Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 30th, 2007

01. Introduction
02. Infinite Resignation
03. The Henge / Ascension
04. Dead Tide
05. Cepheid

On The Web:
www.stephenjamesmoore.com
www.myspace.com/stevemoore2600
www.relapse.com
www.myspace.com/relapserecords
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/steve_henge.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:

Web: www.fanaticpromotion.com

Blog: www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com

MySpace: www.myspace.com/fanaticpromotion

New Media: www.myspace.com/fanaticnewmedia

Podcast: www.itunes.com/podcast?id=253103575

LastFM: www.last.fm/user/fanaticpro

YouTube: www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion

News: feeds.feedburner.com/FanaticPromotionNewsfeed

Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Hip Hop tag team featuring Yea Big and Kid Static to release debut album of “retro-futuristic” comic book beats and rhymes.

“It basically sounds like Prefuse 73 gone retarded.” – Mundane Sounds

“Rolls along like the greatest party of your life upside down.” – Tangents (UK)

“What Andy Kaufman did for comedy, Yea Big has done with their new album...” – Treblezine

Ever wonder what happened to the FUN in hip-hop? What happened to the Digital Undergrounds, the Biz Markies and the De La Souls? With all this serious rap, who fills in the gap for the people who just want to get their dance on? The answer: the dauntless duo of deejay Yea Big and emcee Kid Static. Yea Big & Kid Static are down with OCD and have created a meticulously crafted debut album of “retro futuristic comic book hip hop” -- the soundtrack for your next dance-off and the preamble to your next good times coup. Chicago's Jib Door Records will release the self-titled opus on October 23, 2007.

Together, these two heroes are a force to be reckoned with -- Big and Static are most certainly two essential ingredients in a recipe for world domination. Separately, they busy themselves with a multitude of other noteworthy endeavors.

Yea Big is an audio manipulator who recently created a tour-only CD-R mashup of the entire upcoming album HLLLYH by spaz-rock band Mae-Shi. Big's reinterpretation, entitled HLLLYEA is an obvious play that incorporates his name into the actual album’s title. Big explains, “All of the material used to make the beats is off of HLLLYH, hence the punny title, HLLLYEA, which in hindsight will probably only further perpetuate the false notion that my name is pronounced ‘yeah’ instead of the correct pronunciation, ‘yea’.” Check out one of the tracks from Yea Big's Mae-Shi mash up featuring Kid Static on vocals: “Run To The Facts” (MP3).

Not to be outdone, Kid Static is actually a Hollywood screen star when he’s not hijacking your brain piece. Static doubles, literally, as a professional stuntman traveling the country jumping onto and flying off of buildings. Throughout October, Static will confine his jumping around to the stage, when he and Big head out on some dates to promote their upcoming collaboration, including a stop in NYC for the annual CMJ festival. See below for tour dates and make sure to remember that hip hop is actually about FUN when checking out the debut from Yea Big & Kid Static.

More about Yea Big:
Stefen Robinson a.k.a. Yea Big is a detail obsessed mad scientist of the mix reared on Ravi Shankar, bluegrass & Motown. He released his first full length CD, The Wind That Blows The Robot's Arms, in 2006 on Chicago’s Jib Door label to much confusion and praise. One dude called The Wind... “an A.D.D. trip through instrumental spaz-hop”. Yea Big has done remixes for Minneapolis avant-hip hop outfit Kill The Vultures, the 12 Apostles label, Illegal Art, and continues to produce tour only mash-up and remix EP’s, the first two of which feature Mae-Shi and Rapider Than Horsepower.

More about Kid Static:
Producing and emceeing since childhood, native South Side Chicagoan Kid Static started off at the green age of 12-years-old, making frenetic and glitchy chiptunes. Years later, he gained local recognition as the front man for the defunct instrumental hip-hop group, The Cankles, whose much lauded Goddamn!! dropped in 2005 along with Static’s privately issued solo debut Have You Seen This Man? Stunt double by trade, Static is also an avid enthusiast of that mad French urban import sport parkour. No doubt, these on and off screen antics contribute heavily to Static’s sci-fi, action obsessed narrative wordplay.

Yea Big & Kid Static Live:
10/03 Chicago, IL Reggie's Live
10/12 Philadelphia, PA The Circle of Hope
10/18 Jamaica Plain, MA The Milky Way
10/19 Brooklyn, NY Soundfix Records (Fanatic CMJ Day Party)
10/21 Chicago, IL The Note
10/31 Bloomington, IN Uncle Festers
11/09 Chicago, IL Darkroom
11/16 Chicago, IL Kinetic Playground

Yea Big & Kid Static Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 23, 2007

01. The Screaming Starts At Sundown
02. We've Built A Time Machine That Runs On Beats. We Shall Only Use It For Good.
03. Static Leads The Coup
04. Transmission Ended
05. Joining Forces
06. Speak The Facts
07. Low Budget Battle Scene
08. The Basement / Enfant Terrible
09. On The Blink
10. Repairs Are Needed
11. Duck, Mother Fuckers! (MP3)
12. Revel In The Aftermath
13. The Life Here
14. Things Have To Change, Pete
15. Why The Fuck Does This Keep Happening
16. Back Into The Sleeve

On The Web:
www.yeabig.com
www.kidstatic.com
www.myspace.com/yeabigkidstatic
www.jibdoor.com
www.myspace.com/jibdoor

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com
www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/fanaticpromotion
www.myspace.com/fanaticnewmedia
www.itunes.com/podcast?id=253103575
www.last.fm/user/fanaticpro
www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion

Monday, September 17, 2007

Pittsburgh pop auteur Steve Goldberg heads out on tour with his elite squad of orchestral mercenaries, The Arch Enemies.

“Steve Goldberg's senior project is an orchestral-pop gem -- this eponymous album with his band, The Arch Enemies, is possibly the most elaborate, orchestrated indie-pop effort Pittsburgh has ever produced.“ - Pittsburgh City Paper

Steve Goldberg and The Arch Enemies first spread the good news of its debut album to the eastern US this summer on the “Cheesy Western Tour ‘07”, and now the band has set its sights on the west coast this fall with a tour that commences in Las Vegas on October 10th.

The Arch Enemies first materialized as a rotating cast of live backing musicians for Pittsburgh pop auteur and music student Steve Goldberg who was studying music composition and creative writing at Carnegie Mellon University. It began innocently, as these stories often do, with a trumpet here or a violin there. But before he knew it, Goldberg was living on the outskirts of London and performing with a tuba player named King Wang. It wasn't long before he got to experimenting with string quartets.

And it was there, under the influence of meat pies, ale, and low brass, that most of the songs that would become Steve Goldberg and The Arch Enemies were conceived. Soon after returning to his native shores, armed with a head full of ideas and a healthy moustache, Steve sequestered himself in a secret underground recording studio. Enlisting an elite squad of orchestral mercenaries, he built his pop fortress lovingly, brick by brick.

The band’s self-titled debut album, recorded over eight months during Goldberg’s final two semesters as his thesis project, contains parts for 22 different instruments. All of the musicians were recruited from the Carnegie Mellon University School of Music, and most of them hadn't heard the music before showing up to record. The album was engineered by another CMU student and all vocals were recorded with a custom tube microphone built by an electrical engineering student. The album artwork and layout were created by CMU design students, as well. The record was mastered by Garrett Haines (Starlight Mints.)

By the time the final overdub was put to hard disk, The Arch Enemies' ranks had swelled to include harpsichords and trombones, vibraphones and glockenspiels, flutes and French horns. A powerful juggernaut to be sure, but such a behemoth was unfit for maneuvering in small spaces. A tour was devised -- an away team was needed, one that would be powerful yet nimble and capable of performing surgical strikes and counter-intelligence operations anywhere in the globe. Goldberg put out the call.

J.J. Josephs (fiery fiddlist and renowned medicine man) and The Duke (lead bass guitarist extraordinaire and international poker champ) were retained from the studio crew. The new squad was completed by the inimitable Mink Shoals (martial arts expert, accomplished golfer) on the skins. Like some sort of rock and roll Planeteers, their powers combined to create a heroic force for combating bad vibes. Now, you can experience that force for yourself. Keep your friends close, and The Arch Enemies closer when they arrive in your town this October.

Steve Goldberg and The Arch Enemies Live:
10/10 Las Vegas, NV Art Bar
10/12 Phoenix, AZ, Casablanca Lounge
10/13 Tucson, AZ, Dry River
10/14 San Marcos, CA, The Jumping Turtle
10/16 Los Angeles, CA, Knitting Factory
10/17 San Luis Obispo, CA, Frog and Peach Pub
10/18 San Francisco, Edinburgh Castle
10/20 Redding, CA, Red White and Brew Pub
10/21 Eugene, OR, The Black Forest
10/23 Portland, OR, Kelly's Olympian
10/25 Seattle, WA, The Mars Bar
10/26 Olympia, WA 4th Ave. Tavern
10/27 Bend, OR 541 Lounge

Steve Goldberg and The Arch Enemies Tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE

01. The Road
02. February Third
03. Julia
04. The Spy (Part 1)
05. The Spy (Part 2)
06. 23rd Century Identity Crisis
07. The Battle of Agincourt
08. Artichokes
09. Hideaway
10. Summer's Ending (MP3)

On The Web:
www.stevegoldbergmusic.com
www.myspace.com/stevegoldberg

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com
www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/fanaticpromotion
www.myspace.com/fanaticnewmedia
www.itunes.com/podcast?id=253103575
www.last.fm/user/fanaticpro
www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Boston post-punk quartet Junius completes new album, tours across U.S. with stop at CMJ.

“The most engaging dark rock to come out since Joy Division last graced a stage.” – Disclosure Magazine

“Genius as far as contemporary new wave/cinematic art-rock goes... An epic audio masterpiece.” – The Big Takeover

“Ever since Junius started rocking our headphones, we've been in a good place.” – The Boston Globe

Boston post-punk / post-rock (let's call it post-wave) quartet Junius is, as you read this, putting the finishing touches on its debut full length at Henson Recording with the help of production team Tom Syrowski and Kevin Mills (AFI, Weezer, The Bravery.) The band has holed up in the Hollywood studio for over a month, slaving over every detail of the album with the working title The Martyrdom of A Catastrophist. The forthcoming record is based on the life of controversial scholar Immanuel Velikovsky. Junius singer/guitarist Joseph E. Martinez, along with illustrator Matt Gauck, plans to release an accompanying graphic novel for the record.

Upon completing every last overdub and fader move, Junius takes to the road in its massive black albatross en route to its SAF Records/GSL showcase on October 18 in NYC during the CMJ Festival. See complete tour dates below.

Junius has slowly built up a strong following over the course of a pair of EPs and some very impressive live shows. Soon, the band's epic, dark sound will spread even further with the October release of a self-titled disc compiling the two previous records on Radar / SAF Records.

Boston has long been known as a breeding ground for renowned political dissidents as well as mind-expanding sonic adventurists. A legacy of great progressive labels (like Hydra Head, Tortuga and Big Wheel Recreation) and a harbor full of Earl Grey attest to that. Carrying in that tradition is Junius – at once an enigmatic letter-writing historical footnote (and political critic from the 1700's)as well as a rainy, Brit-inflected supernova of gigantic guitars, entrancing lights and erudite lyrics founded by Martinez, drummer Dana Filloon and guitarist Mike Repasch-Nieves.

The New England coast was first illuminated by Junius on Friday, February 13, 2004 at a sold out show at The Middle East in Cambridge, MA. Drawing upon influences as diverse as Failure, Hum, Sunny Day Real Estate and The Cure, Junius electrified the rapt audience with the spellbinding walls of dreamy guitars and alluring lights that have continued to define the band's signature aesthetic. Together with fellow Bostonians Seneca and Constants, the band formed the core of the Radar Recordings collective -- a community of self-funded progressive artists founded in 2002 -- which filled a void left behind when the aforementioned labels uprooted and expanded to warmer climes.

Shortly after releasing its first EP, the post-wave pioneers began a relentless touring regimen of multiple headlining and co-headlining North American tours to fan the flames of an already relatively blazing press. Junius played over 200 shows in 2005 alone, and spent nearly nine months on the road that year.

The songs which make up Junius's self-titled album were recorded by Will Benoit (of Constants), and mastered by Nick Zampiello (Isis, Converge, Pelican, Cave In.) Hailed as “genius” by The Big Takeover, Junius' work is borne of experiments in isolation and ascetism, including month-long stints in remote places including a storage facility in Texas, a farmhouse in Vermont, a cabin in Pennsylvania and a small room in the swamps of Louisiana. It's this austere approach that adds a weighty foundation of authenticity to the members of Junius as credible artists. Themes of forbidden knowledge, supernatural and extra-terrestrial phenomena, and religious mythology permeate Martinez's esoteric lyrics, while the group's music pushes sonic boundaries.

Junius' brutal itinerary extends well into 2008, with plans to hit Europe, Japan, as well as more North American dates to solidify their already solid fan base. Appearances on MTV's “On the Rise” and scores of “Most Anticipated Album” nominations have all but catapulted Junius to the forefront of the world's sight line. With this self-titled release, as well as the impending Martyrdom of A Catastrophist, the specter of the Junius enigma will loom heavier in the public's mind than ever before.

“This fiery Boston quartet displays the potential to emerge as the bridge between post-grunge and the future of alternative rock.” – Amplifier Magazine

“With high energy emanating out of a pensive sound, Junius punctures each track with unshakable singularity until it turns into something addictive and encompassing.” – Exclaim!

Junius Live:
09/27 Tempe, AZ The Sets
09/28 Tucson, AZ The Gnarwhal House
09/29 Albuquerque, NM Winning Coffee
09/30 El Paso, TX Zeppelin's
10/01 Abilene, TX Monk's Coffee
10/02 San Antonio, TX Roadside Icehouse
10/03 Austin, TX Red 7
10/04 Shreveport, LA Mia's Pub
10/05 Lafayette, LA Cafe Cottage
10/06 Mobile, AL The Blind Mule
10/09 Johnson City, TN The Hideaway
10/10 Greenville, NC The Spazzatorium Galleria
10/18 New York, NY Lit Lounge (SAF Records/GSL CMJ Showcase)
10/19 Boston, MA T.T. The Bear's
10/30 New York, NY Don Pedro's (W/ Circle Takes the Square)
10/31 Boston, MA Cambridge Elks Lodge

Junius Tracklisting:
Release Date: Oct. 9, 2007
Stream The Album HERE

01. [Elan Vital]
02. Hiding Knives
03. From The Isle of The Blessed
04. [Elan Fatale]
05. Forcing Out The Silence
06. [The Annunciation]
07. Blood Is Bright
08. A Word Could Kill Her
09. In The Hearts of Titans
10. At The Age of Decay (MP3)

On The Web:
www.juniusmusic.com
www.myspace.com/junius
www.radarrecordings.com
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/junius.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
Web: www.fanaticpromotion.com
Blog: www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com
MySpace: www.myspace.com/fanaticpromotion
New Media: www.myspace.com/fanaticnewmedia
Podcast: www.itunes.com/podcast?id=253103575
LastFM: www.last.fm/user/fanaticpro
YouTube: www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion
News: feeds.feedburner.com/FanaticPromotionNewsfeed

Wednesday, September 12, 2007

Voice behind MTV's Chunky Pam and “Jackie-of-All-Trades” songstress Meredith DiMenna steps out to reveal her personal side with Saint Bernadette.

Meredith DiMenna is a “Jackie-of-All-Trades,” running the Exotic Recordings record label and production company, working for the American Comedy Network creating song parodies and impressions of other musicians, and in what might be DiMenna's most popular performance to date, finding time to provide the voice of MTV and You Tube sensation Chunky Pam (NEWS| MYSPACE| WIKI). And now, DiMenna can be found making beautiful, loungey music that harkens back to Motown or early Atlantic releases with her band, Saint Bernadette. With a background like this, and a life spent in song, it is curious to note that the band’s debut In The Ballroom (October 2, 2007, Exotic Recordings) is the first band full-length that DiMenna has recorded. Basically, like the song says, DiMenna IS every woman.

Don't believe it? How about this: DiMenna recently became friendly with R&B legends Ashford and Simpson when the Grammy-nominated duo -- in what the Fanatic staff refers to as the coolest thing that ever happened, ever -- performed their signature song “Solid” live at DiMenna's wedding to Saint Bernadette guitarist Keith “Touch” Saunders. DiMenna later invited them to take part in a free concert series she was producing and during the set, Ashford and Simpson performed their hit “I'm Every Woman,” originally written for Chaka Khan. And who did they dedicate the tune to? That's right. Meredith DiMenna. The lesson? When Ashford and Simpson say that you're every woman -- you ARE!

For a woman that has her hands and voice in so many different pots, having a creative outlet like Saint Bernadette is just plain necessary. It’s the music that DiMenna writes when she’s just being herself -- personal and raw -- it's a far cry from her vocation as a professional voice. Though Saint Bernadette's music seems born of '40's girl singers and epic '70's rock, the husband and wife songwriting team of DiMenna and Saunders -- in another nod to their eclectic musical backgrounds -- actually met through a hip hop band. One of their first shows together was an opening slot for rap legends, Run-DMC. While Saunders played bass, DiMenna was pushed off the stage when her cameo singing performance seemed to be upstaging his own. A partnership was solidified.

Soon after, Saunders and DiMenna began writing songs together and later built a recording studio. While performing regularly under the name The Saucers, the pair started an independent label, Exotic Recordings, and released albums for a variety of groups including Nervous System, Jascha Ephraim, Planeside, Dogs of Winter and DiMenna's brother, J. DiMenna.

“We've always wanted to create something like Motown or early Atlantic Records,” says DiMenna. “Where everyone on the label collaborated and performed together.” Owing to this thinking, the burgeoning songwriting couple reached into their own talent pool of artists on Exotic's roster to begin forming the band that would become Saint Bernadette. Solo artist and multi-instrumentalist, Jar-e took up the bass, Rhodes and trombone. Joe Novelli of J. DiMenna's touring band came on with lap steel and trumpet, and finally, drummer Craig Sala was recruited from Planeside.

The new line-up went north to a small cabin in Vermont to learn and arrange the songs. Inspired and invigorated by the results, they began the search for the perfect recording location. “We knew we wanted to record it live. Because of the instrumentation, the dynamics depend on a real-time push and pull between the different elements and we felt we couldn't achieve that in an overdubbing situation,” says Keith. “We really wanted the record to reflect the energy of a live show.”

Recent transplants to Bridgeport, CT, DiMenna and Saunders found that a local redevelopment project, the historic Bijou Theatre, was hiding a large and beautiful ballroom circa 1908 on the second floor. The developers gave the band permission to use the space for five days – one each to load in, load out and three to record. To prepare for the recording, the band played a series of live shows in New York and Connecticut with the express purpose of refining the arrangements and establishing the dynamics. At this point, they enlisted Chris Sanchez, founding member of NYC's The Fever to produce the album, and Matt Lane, mobile recording engineer to record it.

The album was recorded completely live - with everyone in the same room at the same time. It was nearly non-stop recording, except on breaks to go to the bar next door and keep tabs on the World Cup. “It was exhausting because we had to be totally focused the whole time. We all knew that this was it, we either get it in these sessions or we don't,” says Jar-e. “There wasn't a lot of room for error.”

When recording was finished, the band took the record to Peter Katis of Bridgeport-based Tarquin Studio (Interpol, The National, Rainer Maria.) “Not only is he in Bridgeport, which was important to us – we really wanted it to be a hometown effort – but he's also really talented. Working with him in his studio was a great experience,” says DiMenna. Saunders adds, “We had to wait a few months for him because he was busy working on The National, which was so hard since we were so excited about the recording, but it was well worth the wait.”

The result is a refreshing real-time view of Saint Bernadette. Stripped of modern studio conventions, the band's musicianship, songwriting and musical chemistry is immediately apparent. The sonic stamp of the recording location gives the album a distinctive cohesiveness that suits the band's genre-jumping style. Genre jumping indeed -- you'll hardly believe this sultry voice of DiMenna's can possibly also be that of the aforementioned rapping Ms. Pam. It is, as she is: every woman. Saint Bernadette's In the Ballroom will be released October 2, 2007.

Saint Bernadette live:
10/16 New York, NY 11th Street Bar
10/19 Bridgeport, CT Acoustic Cafe
10/23 New York, NY 11th Street Bar
10/30 New York, NY 11th Street Bar

In The Ballroom tracklisting:
Release Date: October 2, 2007

01. I Own The City (MP3)
02. Bound To Do
03. She's a Natural
04. Money In The Air
05. Pieces
06. Sidestep
07. Such Ease
08. Lay Me Down
09. Universe
10. No Dreams

On The Web:
www.saintbernadettemusic.com
www.myspace.com/saintbernadette
www.exoticrecordings.com/
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/saint_in.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/

www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, September 11, 2007

L.A. underground favorites HEALTH hits the road this fall. Cold Sweat Records signs on to release LP version of forthcoming album.

The impressive word-of-mouth excitement about L.A. underground quartet HEALTH that has surged throughout that city like a series of rolling blackouts has quickly become an international phenomenon. The band recently ripped a swath across the U.K. -- garnering praise from the NME, BBC Radio and many more -- and this week HEALTH announce tour dates throughout the US beginning on September 25th (see complete dates below.) The band's live shows are sweaty, packed fits of beautiful noise that could perhaps be best compared to Liars, Animal Collective and latter-period Black Dice.

HEALTH's self-titled debut full length on the ultrahip Lovepump United label hits shelves on September 18th. Soon thereafter, L.A. based Cold Sweat Records (Battles, Phantom Family Halo, This Moment in Black History) will issue the vinyl version of the album. As if that weren't enough HEALTH activity, the band has announced a slew of commissioned remixes to follow hot on the heels of the album. The impressive list of remix collaborators includes Pink Skull (Minneapolis), David Gilmore Girls (Amsterdam), Crystal Castles (Toronto), Curses! (NYC), Toxic Avenger (Paris), CFCF (Montreal), Juiceboxxx (Milwaukee), Narctrax (Tokyo), Lovely Chords (Buenos Aires), et al.

The group's surging notoriety is also due in part to the magic of the Interwebs. “Crimewave” was the #2 most blogged about song according to Elbo.ws. Likewise, HEALTH was recently the #5 most blogged about band according to that blog aggregator, and #9 on Hypemachine.com. Anthem Magazine recently shot an amazing live performance of the song “Glitter Pills” at The Smell (where the HEALTH album was recorded) in downtown L.A., which can be seen HERE. Additionally, director Nik Mercer shot a collaboration between HEALTH and Aa (Big A Little a) reworking the band's “Crimewave” that can be viewed HERE. Plus, PaperThinWalls.com recently posted a raving track review for “Glitter Pills” HERE.

Regarding the remix onslaught, the band issued the following statement: “HEALTH likes to make scary noises, we like to chant until our faces go red, we like to beat on drums until there's blood on the floor. But we also like to boogie, and sometimes we need help from people we admire. There is a great big world full of music and there is no excuse for standing in the corner with your eyes closed. You can always make friends with the other kids in class, even If your favorite band is Slayer and theirs is Bell Biv Devoe, so let's hold hands.”

Instead of finding a room where the only thing one can hear is their heartbeat, HEALTH recorded its debut full length in one of the band's favorite places. The Smell is an all ages music venue in downtown Los Angeles. It is open and brick and dirty and dark, but when you sing a church hymnal or hit a drum as hard as you can the sound is beautiful. They did both of these things on the record. They also went out and found equipment built the same time as The Smell, mostly ribbon microphones designed by the BBC for radio broadcasts in the 1930's, things George Martin liked to use, and other things they didn't know about. The record is 11 songs in less than thirty minutes - on it there is new music with old sounds.

HEALTH was six months old the first time they played for real people. Before that, there was more talk than music, mostly about art, food, sex, animals, records, drugs, politics and sleeping. After two more shows in Los Angeles, the group self released a 7” and went on tour. While they were traveling, people told them their music was weird. When they got back they played on a bill with Ex-Models and Death Sentence Panda. They felt like grown men. After that, people let them play shows more often, mostly at all ages art spaces like The Smell and Il Corral. They became friends with other L.A bands like No Age, The Mae Shi, Mika Miko, BARR, Captain Ahab, Anavan, and Abe Vigoda. Then they went on three more tours and a trip to SXSW.

HEALTH has also had a hand in 8-bit glitch duo Crystal Castles' recent success. In addition to a Crystal Castles/HEALTH split 7” (to be released concurrently on Lovepump United with HEALTH's LP), Crystal Castles highly anticipated Crimewave EP is named for a HEALTH remix for which the two bands recently shot a video. Head over to YouTube to see it (LINK).

HEALTH Live:
* w/ Crime Novels
^ w/ Yip Yip
09/25 Phoenix, AZ The Modified*
09/27 Denver, CO Rhinoceropolis *
09/28 Lincoln, NE Pile of Kevins*
09/29 East Moline, IL Mixtapes*
10/01 Bloomington, IN Uncle Festers*
10/02 Madison, WI King Club*
10/04 Oberlin, OH Oberlin College*
10/06 Montreal, QC Pop Montreal^
10/07 Rochester, NY Bug Jar*^
10/08 Poughkeepsie, NY Vassar College*
10/09 Middletown, CT Wesleyan College*
10/11 Northampton, MA House Party*
10/12 Boston, MA Obrien's Pub^
10/13 Providence, RI May N Kevin 4 Eva^
10/14 Pompton Lakes, NJ Mainstage Club^
10/16 Purchase, NY Suny Purchase*^
10/17 Annandale-on-Hudson, NY Bard College*
10/18 Philadelphia, PA Danger Danger Gallery*^
10/19 New York, NY Knitting Factory CMJ^
10/21 Baltimore, MD The Depot
10/22 Washington, DC Civilian Arts Project*^
10/23 Charlottesville, VA Bridge Progressive Arts Space*
10/24 Charleston, SC Cumberlands*
10/25 Savannah, GA Jojos Backyard*
10/26 Atlanta, GA Lenny's Bar*
10/27 Birmingham, AL Bottletree*
10/29 Houston, TX Proletariat*
10/30 Austin, TX Emos*
10/31 Denton, TX Eighth Continent*
11/01 Lubbock, TX Bash Riprocks*
11/03 Los Angeles, CA The Smell*

HEALTH Tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE
Release Date: Sept. 18, 2007

01. Heaven
02. Girl Attorney
03. Triceratops (MP3) (CFCF Remix MP3)
04. Crimewave (MP3)
05. Courtship
06. Zoothorns
07. Tabloid Sores
08. //M\\
09. Glitter Pills
10. Perfect Skin (MP3)
11. Lost Time

On The Web:
www.healthnoise.com/
www.myspace.com/healthmusic
www.lpurecords.com/
www.myspace.com/lovepumpunited
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/health.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
Web: www.fanaticpromotion.com/
Blog: ww.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com/
MySpace: www.myspace.com/fanaticpromotion
New Media: www.myspace.com/fanaticnewmedia
Podcast: www.itunes.com/podcast?id=253103575
LastFM: www.last.fm/user/fanaticpro
YouTube: www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion
News: feeds.feedburner.com/FanaticPromotionNewsfeed

Monday, September 10, 2007

Russian rapper Ivan Ives announces tour in support of upcoming album featuring Cappadonna, Vast Aire, and 2MEX, releases video for latest single.

“Ives' got the all lyrical skill and ability to become a microphone champion.” – URB

“...there’s a lot of satisfaction in 'discovering' a rising talent before everyone else does, and it makes it all the sweeter when that talent is as obviously worthy of your support as young Mr. Ives is. “ – cdreviews.com

LA-based Russian rapper Ivan Ives has announced an east coast tour in support of the release of his newest album Iconoclast. The tour will kick off following a CD release party in Ives’ home base of Los Angeles on September 14th. See below for complete tour dates.

Iconoclast is a particularly important album for Ives personally, as it gave him the chance to work with other hip hop luminaries that he has been a long-time fan of including Cappadonna of Wu-Tang Clan, Vast Aire and 2MEX. Ives comments, “Working with all the artists featured on Iconoclast was a trip, because they are all emcees that I have been listening to for a long time -- to actually be able to work with them was an honor.”

The ultra-catchy Iconoclast lead-off track “Got It” -- which features another of Ives collaborators, producer Fresh aka The Hitman -- was recently immortalized as the album's first video. View it HERE.

More about Ivan Ives:

Mother Russia has churned-out more than her fair share of wordsmiths who are swelling with passion, and deeply entrenched in heavy analyses of human behavior; finding inspiration in the drab, surroundings of their icy landscape. Following the footsteps of such Red luminaries as Fyodor Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy, Ivan Ives imports a flowing dose of his Russian roots to the LA hip-hop scene. With Iconoclast, Ives' second full-length, released under the wings of his own No Threshold imprint, the street-savvy emcee brings an outsider's view to the Capitalist migraine that dominates so many of hip-hop's affairs. Indeed, Ives possesses the qualities and skills of “indie” hip-hop's articulate style and DIY convictions, but the staccato and glitch-laden production of songs, like “Carpe Diem” (featuring 2MEX), “Honor” (feat. Cappadonna of Wu-Tang) and “Revenge” come together with an adventurous and old school flare. His songs are catchy on a level that transcends the experimental leanings of collegiate beats and rhymes.

And though his writing is informed by his early experimental days when he went by the name Nicotine, Ives knows that in order to break the rules, one most first know the rules. This West Coast by-way-of Brooklyn by-way-of the former U.S.S.R. immigrant has more in common with the auditory appeal of such acts as Kanye West, Jay-Z and 50 Cent thanks to the accessible beats by his longtime producer and collaborator Fresh aka The Hitman. Ivan Ives manages to keep his underground credibility while flirting with mainstream sensibilities – and that's a tough line to walk. His words are strong, and long is the way and hard is the road that leads out of hell into the light. For Ives, the beauty is in this dark ride on the mean streets. Ives’ inspiration comes not from blingin' and big pimpin' but by thriving on integrity in the shadow materialism in a cut-throat world. Love lost, the great beyond and personal improvement are part of the game as Ives composes a body of work that shines with honest-to-goodness talent. Like Bob Dylan, 2Pac and Grandmaster Flash, Ives' songs are his own stories and his own commentaries shaped by his unrestrained style.

He doesn't mince words, nor does unleash a torrent of expletives to underscore the immediacy of his message. He understands that the pen is mightier than the sword and his seamless lyrical transitions from English to Russian and back unfold with a poetic surge that will have you rushing to rewind. He's a salt-of-the-Earth man, and his subdued accent, informed by his bi-coastal upbringing culminates in a sound that's smooth and angst-ridden, energetic and hard, but never stoops to a simple thug vibe. His shit is for real, and the epic rusky tone that rises up in the anthemic “Victory” (feat. Vast Aire) (MP3) informs Iconoclast, forging an album that is as stoic and eloquent as the Eastern land in which his roots are planted.

Ivan Ives Live:
09/14 Los Angeles, CA, The Airliner (Iconoclast Release Party)
09/28 Athens, GA, WUOG-FM Halftime Hip Hop Show
09/30 Gainesville, FL, Civic Center (w/ Chef Blesn, Prophet Of What)
10/02 Atlanta, GA, Lennys
10/05 Boston, MA, McGanns
10/08 Brooklyn, NY, The 5 Spot
10/09 Burlington, VT, Club Metronome
10/10 Washington, DC, 9:30 Club (w/ 2MEX, Vast Aire, DJ Drez)
10/11 Baltimore, MD, Sonar (w/ 2MEX, Vast Aire, DJ Drez)

Iconoclast Tracklisting:
01. Got It (VIDEO)
02. Victory (feat. Vast Aire) (MP3)
03. Mad Game
04. Carpe Diem (feat. 2MEX)
05. Olivia Josephs
06. Soul (feat. O.C. of D.I.T.C.)
07. How It Is
08. The Recipe
09. Honor (feat. Cappadonna of Wu-Tang Clan)
10. Worldwide Hits (feat. Fresh aka The Hitman)
11. Lay Low
12. Rap Ethics
13. Revenge
14. Zzyzx Road
15. Life Is A Bitch

On The Web:
www.ivanives.com/
www.myspace.com/ivanives
www.nothresholdrecords.com/
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/ivan_iconoclast.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/

www.itunes.com/podcastid=253103575

www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com/

Friday, September 7, 2007

The Real Tuesday Weld’s Stephen Coates announces NYC press days, coverage rolls in for charming new album, The London Book of The Dead.

“The superbly arranged, wickedly clever textures and beats will set your toes to tapping, but its bittersweet melodies will linger for days and weeks.” – LA Weekly

“Imagine an English-speaking Serge Gainsbourg rolling around Tin Pan Alley with synthesizer in hand.” – The New Yorker

“Pairing Portishead’s dark theatrics with Serge Gainsbourg’s dirty-old-man mirth, Coates’ melancholic take on love is devilishly good!” – Wired

Stephen Coates has been building an impeccable reputation with the press through the years with album after album of witty, charming, complex, and dreamy pop. His latest album for the Six Degrees label (Bebel Gilberto, DJ Spooky, Spearhead, Rob Swift), The London Book of The Dead continues in this tradition and is Coates' most realized work to date. Perennial media favorites such as Pitchfork, All Songs Considered, CMJ, XLR8R and others have already discovered the record which speaks to the broad spectrum of Coates' appeal.

In addition to the press, The Real Tuesday Weld continues to draw the attention of major advertisers -- to date, Coates' music has been licensed to accompany ads for Cherry Coke (you may have seen the commercial in which cherries fall from the sky onto a bewildered but eventually delighted urban crowd, while Coates’ “I Love the Rain” plays in the background) and for TV shows like Weeds (Showtime), Gilmore Girls (WB) and Nip/Tuck (FX).

The London Book of The Dead is just one more example of how a wildly open attitude and a slightly mystical bent can result in a distinctly personal and wonderfully warm musical personality – one that uses technology enthusiastically and happily turns it against itself to create something that sounds more deeply human than most of the music made by analog means elsewhere.

The first thing that strikes you about any album by The Real Tuesday Weld is the fact that every element in Coates’ compositions seems to be drawn from sources many decades old. The second thing that strikes you is that his music sounds completely new.

For Coates, the breakthrough in his professional journey came in the form of a pair of surreal dreams in which he was visited by the legendary English music hall singer Al Bowlly and the late actress Tuesday Weld. These experiences convinced him to focus on a career in music and eventually led to the recording of The Valentine EP, which would be followed shortly by the full-length When Cupid Meets Psyche.

His sophomore album and debut on Six Degrees is a deeply complex and lovely full-length CD titled I, Lucifer. The album is a conceived soundtrack to Glen Duncan’s (Coates’ friend and former flatmate) book of the same name about the Devil’s take on humanity.

Coates’s follow-up release on Six Degrees, The Return of The Clerkenwell Kid, continued to develop what Coates has come to call his “antique beat” sound, putting modern technology to the task of creating new music out of a kaleidoscopic array of old sound sources. The sound of The Return of The Clerkenwell Kid was somewhat different from that of its predecessor, but the modus operandi remained basically the same and no one would ever mistake it for anything other than an album by The Real Tuesday Weld.

This brings us back to his latest, and anxiously awaited, album for the Six Degrees label. The London Book of The Dead may sound at first like a startlingly morose title, but in fact it’s more whimsically humorous than morbid. It refers to the Bardo Thodol (or Tibetan Book of The Dead), which describes the passage of the soul from the end of one life to the beginning of another.

“I thought it would be funny if there were a book like that for the English,” says Coates. “The album felt like that to me – a way of moving from one state to another, and all set against the backdrop of this city.”

Amongst the whimsy and humor are lyrical concerns drifting between such weighty topics as death, religious faith, honesty, drugs, and disease. The songs are informed in part by Coates’s own recent passage through several significant events: “Last year I became a father, and then two weeks later my own father died,” he says. “So I was in this kind of psychic spin between birth and death, and this album came out of that in some way.”

“The Real Tuesday Weld is a pop magician breathing new life into a world of vintage, dust-scratched music, inspired by old-time heroes like Cole Porter and raunchy baroque popster Serge Gainsbourg. Waving his wand over everything from dusty country and western to doo-wop, Coates gives this ancient warehouse of sounds a twenty-first century makeover, resplendent with the finest beats, breaks and samples.” – Time Out London

“By mixing flapper jazz with oddball computer instrumentation, Coates has… headed into uncharted territory... Where most down-tempo electronic music aims lazily at dinner parties or weed-addled folk lazing on sofas, The Real Tuesday Weld conjures an era when the chaise lounge was king and the smoking jacket mandatory.” – The London Telegraph

The London Book of The Dead tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE

01. Blood Sugar Love
02. The Decline and Fall of The Clerkenwell Kid
03. It's A Wonderful Li(f)e
04. Cloud Cuckooland
05. Kix
06. Love Sugar Blood
07. I Loved London
08. I Believe
09. Song For William
10. Waltz For One
11. Ruth Roses and Revolvers
12. Dorothy Parker Blue
13. Last Words (MP3)
14. Into The Trees
15. Bringing The Body Back Home
16. Aparte

On The Web:
www.tuesdayweld.com/
www.myspace.com/therealtuesdayweld
www.youtube.com/therealtuesdayweld
www.sixdegreesrecords.com/
www.myspace.com/sixdegreesrecords
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/real_london.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/

www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

San Fran psjch-rock quartet Wooden Shjips sjet sjail with debut, Holy Mountain. Album earns major praise from rock-crit royalty.

"Tight-wound repeato psych guitar raunch with spoony (maybe even imaginary) percussion, surprisingly Rev-like keys, and vocals buried under burning driftwood.” -- Byron Coley, The Wire

“Wooden Shjips (not a typo) are from San Francisco, but the concentrated ferocity of the freakouts on their two very-underground releases — a white-label ten-inch EP (the band gave away the first 300 copies) and a clear-vinyl single (“Dance, California”) — arrives via the Seventies Germanic-guitar lunacy of Guru Guru and the confrontational repetition of VU.” – David Fricke, Rolling Stone

With glowing endorsements from legendary critics like David Fricke (Rolling Stone) and Byron Coley (The Wire, Forced Exposure, Arthur, et al) as well as visionary labels Holy Mountain and Sub Pop, San Francisco's highly-touted garage-drone group Wooden Shjips (that's not a typo) sets sail this fall.

Soon, others outside of the music biz cognoscenti will have the opportunity to set sail aboard Wooden Shjips' psjchedelic adventure. Its self-titled debut on the Holy Mountain label (OM, Lesbian, Six Organs of Admittance) follows quickly on the heels of the band's forthcoming Sub Pop single. And, Wooden Shjips plans to dock briefly for an appearance during this year's CMJ music festival in New York City.

Wooden Shjips is a vital and refreshingly inspired quartet playing loud rock ‘n’ roll in a style heavily influenced by the experimentalism of psychedelia, classical minimalism and garage rock excess. Started as an experiment in rhythmic primitivism and group improvisation, the current lineup brings a more structured rock approach to its performances, utilizing a traditional lineup of drums (Omar Ahsanuddin), bass (Dusty Jermier), organ (Nash Whalen), guitar (Erik “Ripley” Johnson) and vocals.

Its songs sound something akin to the icy garage rock of early Echo & The Bunnymen crossed with the sun-bleached tremolo-punk of The Scientists. There are hints of krautrock, the trance-inducing organ haze of Suicide, Deerhunter-style dance-drone, classic desert-fried garage psych and the mysterious, obscure Japanese lysergic-rock band Les Rallizes Denudes all mixed into one explosive whole on Wooden Shjips self-titled Holy Mountain debut.

The experience of Wooden Shjips has been equated to that of the Japanese phenomenon called maboroshi, which is somewhat similar to seeing a mirage or hallucinating in time. In the context of imagination/dreams, maboroshi is attributed to past occurrences and can take on a meaning like “phantoms.” The group's songs seem to exist in a dream state in which anything is possible.

Wooden Shjips released two acclaimed records in 2006, beginning early in the year with the self-released 10” EP Shrinking Moon For You. The record quickly sold-out, after capturing the attention of well-regarded tastemakers, such as Tom Lax and Byron Coley, who penned rave reviews on Siltblog and in The Wire magazine, respectively. A 7” followed on the Sick Thirst label, and received similar praise from music bloggers, as well as from veteran scribe David Fricke in Rolling Stone.

The band has three new releases lined up for 2007: the LP/CD for Holy Mountain, a 7" for Sub Pop, and a 7" for Pollymaggoo Records. The group played at NoisePop 2007 with Roky Erickson in March, as well as playing a packed showcase at the SXSW Music conference in Austin, TX.

Wooden Shjips live:
09/15 San Francisco, CA Bottom of The Hill
09/16 Davis, CA Delta of Venus
10/05 Oakland, CA Ghost Town Gallery
10/20 New York, NY The Annex (Fanatic CMJ Showcase)

Wooden Shjips tracklisting:
01. We Ask You To Ride (MP3)
02. Losin' Time
03. Lucy's Ride
04. Blue Sky Bends
05. Shine Like Suns

On The Web:
www.woodenshjips.com
www.myspace.com/woodenshjips
www.holymountain.com
www.myspace.com/108446662
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/wooden_shjips.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com
www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com
www.myspace.com/fanaticpromotion
www.myspace.com/fanaticnewmedia
www.itunes.com/podcast?id=253103575
www.last.fm/user/fanaticpro
www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion

Tuesday, September 4, 2007

The Coathangers prepares for a magical record release party and fall tour, gets featured in Burn To Shine DVD Series.

“The Coathangers’ music floats somewhere between the highlights of Bikini Kill, Pylon and Talking Heads, while the band members maintain a keen sarcasm and a certain oneness about their own musical abilities.” --Southeast Performer

The Coathangers has quickly become Atlanta’s most talked about new band. The Dirty South’s premier ladies grace the cover of this month’s Southeast Performer, are currently featured in Atlanta’s monthly music magazine Stomp and Stammer, and have become a favorite of weekly alternative Creative Loafing. The excitement surrounding the girls has spread nationally, as well.

The Coathangers recently returned home from a quick jaunt up the east coast with another group of rowdy Atlanta hometown heroes, The Black Lips, which recently released a 7-inch by The Coathangers on its own Die Slaughterhaus label. Atlanta's Rob’s House Records will release the debut self-titled album by The Coathangers this week. The record is also the first full-length release for the label following the release of singles by Deerhunter, Shock Cinema, Black Lips and others.

The Coathangers will celebrate the release of the album with an in-store at Atlanta’s beloved Criminal Records on September 4th. Reportedly the show will also feature real live mini-unicorns (or at least mini ponies with attached horns!) The band will then begin a string of US dates (see below for the full itinerary.)

In other Coathangers news, the band was recently featured on the Atlanta edition of the Burn To Shine series of documentaries helmed by Brendan Canty of Fugazi. As reported recently by Pitchfork Media (LINK), this unique DVD series collects footage of a city’s bands performing in a space slated for demolition. In this one, Mastodon, Deerhunter, The Black Lips, Shannon Wright, Snowden, The Selmanaires, and The Coathangers are among the Atlanta bands that tear through one song a piece -- just before bulldozers tear through their makeshift performance venue.

More about The Coathangers:
Since July of 2006 Julia Kugel (guitar/vocals), Stephanie Luke (drums/vocals), Candice Jones (keyboard/vocals) and Meredith Franco (bass/vocals) have hammered out a bat cave crunk-punk dirge that explodes with energy and creativity. Don’t be fooled by playful early song titles, like “Nestle In My Boobies” and “Don’t Touch My Shit.” These women are real deal feminists, armed with a brash and irreverent sense of humor. They’re more likely to be caught cracking jokes with Andrew W.K. than sharing tea and vegan cookies with Kathleen Hannah’s crew. Simply put, The Coathangers get the party started. They say what they want to say, do what they want to do, and they write songs because they want to have fun.

Imagine if you will a marriage of The Beastie Boys circa Some Old Bullshit and The Slits when they were still a punk band and you’re in the right ballpark. The group’s manic pep rally chants in “Wreckless Boy” morph into the sneering caterwauls of “Tonya Harding” over simple and powerful rhythmic plods. “Bloody Shirt” transcends the power of three-chord tension with the sounds of ratchets and a sparkling piano slurring to the tune of heartbreak and revelation. And an accordion has never channeled so much punk melancholy as it does in “The Missing Letter.” Jones found the toy accordion in a Texas gas station for ten dollars, and the song is a very personal one about Kugel’s grandmother, sung half in Russian and half in English. She tells Stomp and Stammer, “When I wrote the lyrics, I didn't want them to sound like a seven-year-old wrote them. I only got the education of a seven-year-old in Russia, so I didn't want them to sound trite. But this Russian friend of a friend was like, ‘Oh, the lyrics are really good!’ So that made me feel proud.”

The Coathangers Live:
*w/ Demon's Claws
09/04 Atlanta, GA Criminal Records (Record Release In-Store)
09/07 Atlanta, GA Star Bar (Record Release Party)
09/12 Athens, GA 40 Watt Club
09/13 Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn
09/14 New Orleans, LA Circle Bar
09/20 Atlanta, GA Atlantis Music Conference
10/10 Clemson, SC WSBF
10/15 Atlanta, GA Lenny's
10/19 Brooklyn, NY SoundFix (Fanatic CMJ Day Party)
10/24 Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn
10/25 Athens, GA Caledonia Lounge
10/26 Chapell Hill, NC The Cave
10/27 Washington DC Fight Club
10/28 Philadelphia, PA The Kyber
10/29 Danbury, CT Cousin Larry's
10/30 Boston, MA PAs Lounge*
10/31 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
11/01 New York, NY Death By Audio*
11/03 Cleveland, OH Now That's Class*
11/04 Detroit, MI Lager House*
11/05 Milwaukee, WI Cactus Club*
11/06 Chicago, IL Ronny's*
11/07 Lafayette, IN Zooleger's*
11/08 Nashville, TN The Basement*
11/09 Memphis, TN Murphy's*
11/10 New Orleans, LA Saturn Bar*
11/11 Mobile, AL Blind Mule*
11/12 Orlando, FL Peacock Room*
11/14 Atlanta, GA Drunken Unicorn*

The Coathangers Tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE

01. “Why This Record” Intro
02. Tonya Harding
03. Wreckless Boy
04. Haterade
05. “A Real Honey”
06. Shut The Fuck Up (MP3)
07. Parking Lot (MP3)
08. Buckhead Betty
09. Don’t Touch My Shit! (MP3)
10. “Roll Dem Dice”
11. Parchezzi
12. Where The Hell Were You?
13. “Fatty Pad”
14. Nestle In My Boobies
15. Bloody Shirt
16. The Missing Letter
17. “Larger Success” Outro

On The Web:
www.thecoathangers.com/
www.myspace.com/fuckthecoathangers
www.robshouserecords.com/
www.myspace.com/robshouserecords
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/coathangers.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/
www.fanaticpromotion.blogspot.com/
www.myspace.com/fanaticpromotion
www.myspace.com/fanaticnewmedia
www.itunes.com/podcast?id=253103575 www.last.fm/user/fanaticpro www.youtube.com/fanaticpromotion

The Phantom Family Halo launches another tour, this time with psych-minded Acid Mothers Guru Guru. PFHalo debut, The Legend of Black Six, out now.

Louisville, KY haze-rock troupe The Phantom Family Halo launches yet another tour this week -- hot on the heels of summer treks with Slint, Dead Meadow, et al. This time out, the band boasting members of The For Carnation, Slint and Dead Child hits the road with psych-minded brain-melters Acid Mothers Guru Guru (a variant of the Acid Mothers Temple.) The (ahem) trip, which started August 31st on the east coast, will ultimately take both bands from sea to shining sea... see complete dates below.

The Phantom Family Halo may be most immediately notable for its pedigree -- members of indie rock royalty The For Carnation, Slint, Dead Child, et al. But, it's the band's sound that becomes the most remarkable upon first listen: Think Syd Barrett and Scott Walker jamming with Hawkwind or the 13th Floor Elevators in the height of the Krautrock frenzy, or the Birthday Party subdued to play a rendition of “The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway.” Others have described the quintet as a unique crossbreed of Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Tangerine Dream and Marc Bolan, or Scott Walker fronting Roxy Music.

The Phantom Family Halo is the product of millions and millions of hours in front of speakers, communicating off of the wave forms of 60s & 70s rock n roll music. Core members Michael McMahan (The For Carnation / Dead Child / Slint [reunion]) and Dominic Cipolla (Hookers / Sapat / Dead Child) have been jamming together for over 13 years and have no fear of angelic apparitions while walking past the skeletons of rock's multi-dimensional idiom. In fact, it's embraced and cherished.

The Phantom Family Halo’s debut long player The Legend of Black Six on Cold Sweat Records launches listeners on a journey into other worlds and dimensions of time. The album harkens back to the trailblazers of experimental rock music, while fitting nicely within the nest of neo-psyche brethren Dead Meadow, Entrance, Six Organs Of Admittance or Bright Black Morning Light. The Phantom Family Halo are the missing link to the past and future, rooted deeply in the present.

Slip inside their house -- it's recommended for good health and more hours in front of speakers.

The Phantom Family Halo live:
9/04 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
9/05 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
9/08 Seattle, WA Chop Suey
9/09 Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge
9/10 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
9/11 Los Angeles, CA Troubadour
9/12 San Diego, CA Casbah

The Legend of Black Six tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE

01. Black River (MP3)
02. Slender Head
03. Lady Blue (MP3)
04. In The Back of My Head
05. Broken By The Way
06. Electric God In Your Galaxy
07. Stop The Biting
08. The Legend of Black Six (In 3 Parts)

On The Web:
www.myspace.com/coldsweatrecs
www.myspace.com/thephantomfamilyhalo
www.fanaticpromotion.com/current/phantom_legend.html

Subscribe to Fanatic:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/