Remember the awesome Yellow Bird Project? I spoke about them before. In a nutshell they get indie artists to design a shirt and pick a charity, they in turn sell the shirt and give profits to said charity. The latest artist to get shirt is now other than Elvis Perkins!
While you were sleeping, we got in contact with Elvis Perkins, and asked him if he wanted to collaborate with us to create a t-shirt.
We delved into his imagination, and asked him to share his thoughts and ideas. He prescribed the following:
‘Anything with natural or animal imagery I think one can’t go too wrong with and the wearers and seers of t-shirts can’t be reminded enough that we are not alone on the earth. Have we seen a hummingbird trying to drink from the bell of a horn blown by a shadow or a ghost? Probably. Bees I’d say are something to think about as well. And there’s always the Moon.’
So there you have it. A t-shirt (below), designed by Ben Chlapek and inspired by Elvis Perkins. Elvis has chosen to allocate all of the profits from sale of his t-shirt to the World Wildlife Fund.
Ever wonder what it would be like if Broken Social Scene was made up entirely of Cape Bretoners and Tom Waits was the their lead singer? Well go to Petit Campus tomorrow night because The Tom Fun Orchestra are playing. Local Amanda Mabro will be opening. Tickets are $12 at the door. Should be great time, “Fun” is their middle name….. am I right…. am I right?
Caught wind about this show today and I’m pumped to shit about it,
TEENBEAT TAKEOVER PRESENTS:
Primo Power-POP Rave Up @ Il Motore NEXT Wednesday, Feb. 4th!
Dig this action line-up…
A petition was put together recently in order to persuade Canadian
super group Swan Lake into touring. Most of you have posted on your
sites about their forthcoming second record, Enemy Mine, which is due
out March 24th on Jagjaguwar. In regards to touring, Jagjaguwar posted
that “Swan Lake does not currently have any tour plans but is easily
swayed by gold doubloons and/or enthusiastic mobs”. Upon reading this,
we the fans have come together to prove to the band that they
definitely need to tour to support their new record.
We are urging all of you to help us in our quest. If you would post a
link to this petition along with any upcoming posts about Swan Lake,
we’d greatly appreciate it. Once we hit our target goal of 1000
signatures, we’ll send the petition to Swan Lake’s booking agent at
Billions who will present the petition to the band. After being
overwhelmed by the shear number of signatures, we’re sure the band
will want to hit the road.
Peter Bjorn and John will be releasing their new album Living Thing March 31st and less than a month later they’ll be here in Montreal at Le National. Peter Bjorn and John rock so hard live (Slayer-esque), hard to believe but very true. Chairlift are set to open all dates.
PBJ Tour Dates
04-21 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line Music Cafe
04-22 Milwaulkee, WI - Pabst Theatre
04-23 Chicago, IL - Metro
04-24 Newport, KY - Southgate House 04-25 Toronto, Ontario - Phoenix Theatre
04-26 Ottowa, Ontario - Capital Music Hall
04-27 Montreal, Quebec - Le National
04-28 Boston, MA - Paradise
04-29 New York, NY - Webster Hall
04-30 Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
05-01 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe
05-02 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
AC Tour Dates
13 May 2009 20:00 Terminal 5 New York, New York
14 May 2009 20:00 House of Blues Boston, Massachusetts 15 May 2009 20:00 Metropolis Montreal, Quebec
16 May 2009 20:00 Sound Academy Toronto, Ontario
18 May 2009 20:00 Royal Oak Music Hall Royal Oak, Michigan
19 May 2009 20:00 Turner Hall Ballroom Milwaukee, Wisconsin
20 May 2009 20:00 First Avenue Minneapolis, Minnesota
24 May 2009 20:00 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia
Tickets for both shows went on sale @ Metropolis Box Office, Atom Heart, Cheap Thrills, L’Oblique and Admission*.
Animal Collective - My Girls
* seems admission.com doesn’t have them posted yet, keep checking.
This Sunday, January 25th Haliwood’s legends of rocktronica, The Jimmy Swift Band will be playing Petit Campus here in Montreal. The JSB are touring and promoting their new DVD Live At The Marquee. I caught up with lead singer Craig Mercer over email:
Flex/Mercer
brockmasterflex: Thanks for doing this interview. I haven’t seen you guys since you played Petit Campus back in 2006, what have you and the band been up to?
Craig Mercer: We have been working on our new record, working on the live dvd, and working on bringing the party in the live show… we got a new drummer about two months ago, so getting him ready and preparing him to deal with the rest of us on the road has kept us pretty busy…
bmf: I was reading an old ad for The Jimmy Swift Band playing in St. Johns (link), you were described as a Jam Band, to which Mike MacDougdall comments “… we’re not a jam band… I don’t know what the fuck we are but it ain’t that…” How would you describe the JSB?
cm: daft punk on jaggermeister - iron maiden on extacy - spastic, elastic, enthusiastic - a bunch of other things that end in “ic” - but i certainly would not call us a jam band - you can’t hear that term without inevitably evoking images of like the grateful dead and phish - and anyone who knows us knows there is no comparison to what we do and what they do except for the fact that we also improvise on stage…
bmf: According to my research (Wikipedia) this year would be JSB’s 10th anniversary, over the past 10 years your sound has evolved into what is now described as “rocktronica” what influenced this change?
cm: hmmm… i guess a love of dancing and dance music, really… i grew up a metalhead skidbag and once i moved out of cape breton my eyes were opened to a lot of new music which inevitably changed our sound….
bmf: Jimmy Swift fans are some of the most loyal I’ve met. Have your fans changed as your sound changed?
cm: not really - we really only make music for ourselves… we love that some people love it, but when you start catering to anybody or to an industry you can’t help but compromise your integrity - and that is something i am happy to say we have never done…
bmf: I find when I talk to others about The Jimmy Swift Band its the live show that people really connect with. How do you guys make that connection?
cm: feeding off the crowds energy is a big thing for us and it helps the show be a bit more organic - like one big living entity that the crowd is a part of…
bmf: How do you compare the east coast shows and the west coast shows?
cm: they are all great - our fans are the best - we have had busses of people come follow us around on tour and have had people quit their jobs just to come on a few shows - and they seem to be all over the place so when we go on tour we pretty much feel at home everywhere…
bmf: You and Aaron have a new side project: The Scientists Of Sound, what started this? Do you have plans to tour separately or go to the studio?
cm: Aaron and i share a love of dance music and really enjoy playing together so i guess that is how we got into this project… we also love theatre and the live show is a theatrical freak show which is a blast to be a part of… we have an album that is about half completed and will be doing some tours to support it… www.myspace.com/loopingmadnessduo
bmf: The show this Sunday at Petit Campus is a release party for your new DVD JSB Live At The Marquee. What prompted you to make a DVD?
cm: We have been wanting to make a dvd forever and the timing just seemed right for this - we are totally happy with what came of it, and we are never happy with anything…
bmf: Word has it there is also a documentary on the new DVD, whats the premise of the documentary?
cm: i guess it is really about us and our fans and our relation to our fans… you can check it out on youtube…
bmf: Standard final question, whats next for The Jimmy Swift Band?
cm: jsb has a double album that is near completion - by far and away the best project we have ever done - it is a bit more electro than anything we have done in the past, and it is the first time Aaron Collier (keyboards) has produced one of our records… the guy is a fucking genius and hopefully that means we never have to work with another engineer that is not in the band for as long as i live…
bmf: Thanks again Craig, appreciate you taking the time for this interview. See you at the Petit Campus this Sunday.
cm: see you then - prepare yourself…
See you at the show, tickets are $10 at the door. Doors open @ 8:00PM
If you’d like to win a copy of the DVD go to the Facebook event (here) and mark yourself attend, if 100 people confirm 1 of them will have a change to get the DVD at the show.
“This is JSB” - Mini Documentary
JSB - When Worlds Collide
Tour Dates
20 Jan 2009 22:00 Vinly w/ SOS, Guelph, Ontario
21 Jan 2009 22:00 Pepper Jack’s w/ Gruve, SOS, Hamilton, Ontario
22 Jan 2009 22:00 The Montreal House w/ SOS, Peterbrough, Ontario
23 Jan 2009 22:00 El Mocambo w/ SOS, Toronto, Ontario
24 Jan 2009 22:00 Maverick’s w/ SOS, Ottawa, Ontario
25 Jan 2009 22:00 Petite Cafe Campus w/ SOS , Montreal, Quebec
29 Jan 2009 22:00 The Cellar, UNB Campus, Fredericton, New Brunswick
30 Jan 2009 22:00 Akhord w/ SOS, Saint John, New Brunswick
31 Jan 2009 22:00 The Marquee w/ That 1 Guy, Samson, Halifax, Nova Scotia
20 Feb 2009 22:00 The Rock House, St. John’s, Newfoundland
21 Feb 2009 22:00 The Rock House, St. John’s, Newfoundland
I did the album thing. To spice things up a little more I decided to compile a list of my favorite tracks of 2008 (11 to be exact, a beautiful symmetrical prime number). Check them out, the albums (and EPs) associated with these each songs is also worthy of your full attention. If you are still reading and you dwell with in the Montreal area we’ve updated the Upcoming Shows section. The media might be freaking you out with all its blathering about the recession so what better time to see a some great music get entertained. Now feast your ears on …
Huge lineup last night at La Sala Rossa. A triple bill with Monteal’s Red Mass and AIDS Wolf with headliners Toronto’s Fucked Up. Red Mass have been building quite a following here in Montreal. Lead by Choyce (former CPC Gangbangs), Red Mass are a garage-punk collective that are not limited to music but also poetry and film all united by the same free thinking ideals. I caught the tail end of the set and thought the hype may have left oversized my expectations, the performance was good the sound wasn’t. I think I’ll have to see one of their shows to really see how they perform, but I will say that “Kill It From The Inside” is unfiltered awesome. AIDS Wolf came on next, personally I have a hard time standing there being screamed at by Chloe Lum but she looks great doing it. Fucked Up got on a little late but Pink Eye (now a will be father) apologized and undressed to start the show. From that moment forward it was of “prison riot”-esque energy in Sala. The untrained eye would probably see this show (and many other Fucked Up shows) as chaos, but it takes talent and military discipline to sound so good and have it look like mayhem. Go see a Fucked Up show, dates here.
Fucked Up - Black Albino Bones
PS: Definite show of the year contender. French review of the show here.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE …..
ELVIS PERKINS IN DEARLAND Self-Titled Album In-Stores March 10,2009
XL Recordings is pleased to announce the forthcoming release from Elvis Perkins In Dearland. The album, self-titled, will be released on March 10, 2009. This album is the debut album for the band and at the same time is the follow up to Perkin’s first release, the critically acclaimed Ash Wednesday.
Elvis Perkins in Dearland’s new eponymous album feels very much like the second line to his exquisitely melancholic and much-hailed solo debut Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday gained Elvis a dedicated and reverent following for its nuanced meditations on death and grief—many moments on that first record felt as if the listener had tip-toed into the intimate confines of a private elegy, enveloped in that wondrous, old-soul quality of Elvis’s voice.
There are still plenty of private moments on Elvis Perkins in Dearland, but Elvis is now joined by a talented trio of friends that toured with him in support of Ash Wednesday. Along with Elvis on guitar and lead vocals, Elvis Perkins in Dearland is Brigham Brough (upright bass, saxophone, vocals), Wyndham Boylan-Garnett (pump organ, guitar, harmonium, trombone, vocals), and Nick Kinsey (drums, percussion, banjo, clarinet, vocals). Many of the new songs on Elvis Perkins in Dearland were honed on the road by the four bandmates, whose natural ease with one another allowed them to constantly experiment with arrangements on the fly.
Produced by Grammy Award-winning producer Chris Shaw (Public Enemy, Bob Dylan, Ween) and Elvis Perkins In Dearland, the album was recorded in Upstate New York in the latter part of 2008. Shaw recorded and mixed the album as well.
“On this new record we wanted to capture the spirit of our performances,” drummer Nick Kinsey said. “The challenge was to get down that spontaneity.” Perkins says, “This album is faster and younger than Ash Wednesday. Being in a studio with three other creatives instead of just one was a new thing for me. It takes four times as long to decide everything… but in the end, this kind of interplay made for much good.”
Three tracks from the album - “Shampoo,” “Send My Fond Regards to Lonelyville” and “Doomsday” - are currently streaming at www.elvisperkinsindearland.com.
Elvis Perkins In Dearland will tour the US upon the album’s release – dates to be announced soon!
TRACKLISTING
Shampoo
Hey
Hours Last Stand
I Heard Your Voice in Dresden
Send My Fond Regards to Lonelyville
I’ll Be Arriving
Chains, Chains, Chains
Doomsday
123 Goodbye
How’s Forever Been Baby
We’ve got some video and mp3s of “Shampoo”, “Hey”, “Doomsday” and “123 Goodbye” here.
Most people don’t mind making lists. I hate it. Especially a year end list. It’s a personal hell of mine. How in the hell can I quantify the difference between a folk album and hardcore album I like equally. The rage in me loves the angst (or is that the other way around?) of the hardcore album but my inner beard loves the folk album. It’s ripping me apart (which is why I waited so long to do this). So this year I’m just going to give my favorite 11 records of 2008. They are all ranked 1, but there are 11 (prime number) of them, I hope that doesn’t blow your mind but just deal with it and buy these albums, god dammit they’re all gold.
Wolf ParadeAt Mount Zoomer This album was a long time coming for me. Some people I spoke to didn’t ‘get’ this album, and thats fair. This album much more raw and striped down than Apologies and for that I find it much better.
Drive-By TruckersBrighter Than Creation’s Dark
I hate new country music. I hate it more than making lists. But it seems to me the Drive-By Truckers did it right, and this album changed my perspective on modern country music.
Bon IverFor Emma, Forever Ago You are probably thinking to yourself, ‘Brock you’re an idiot, that album was released in 2007 AND was one of your favorite albums of 2007!! ‘. And you’re right, so I’d have to retort, ‘It was released self released by Justin Vernon in 2007, it was released by Jagjaguwar in February so that would make it a 2008 release BAM.’ Now I know thats a little cheap, but this album really reinvented itself when I was spending a long weekend in a cabin just north of the Vermont border in August. In a cabin in the woods this album really shines.
Fucked UpThe Chemistry Of Common Life Who would of thought that a Canadian band from Toronto would revive hardcore. This album should lose cred by being so popular with critics, but its that good it doesn’t. [PSA: Fucked Up are coming through Montreal Saturday]
Jay ReatardMatador Singles Its pretty simple making an album. All you have to do is write a bunch of great singles and compile them into a collection. Done!
Unlike Wierdo Rippers, it isn’t plagued by the same issues of filler tracks to slow it down, and manages to keep the tempo up for 12 songs and 30 minutes. No point in wasting time creating song structure or repeating choruses too many times - just do something that sounds cool, turn on some fuzz and yell until you run out of lyrics.
Parlovr self titled
When Parlovr came to our studio to do a podcast, I knew there was something great about these guys. The Montreal three piece make great pop anthems that sound thicker than most 7 piece Lynyrd Skynyrd cover bands. But don’t let that analogy fool you, they are no cover band, they stand out from the plethora of Montreal bands. The album is solid and the live show is pumped with fun, if you don’t know now you know.
Chad VanGaalenSoft Airplane This man was robbed for the Polaris Prize this year in my humble option If this man doesn’t win the Polaris next year there will be hell to pay. Chad is one of the most talented artists we have in Canada and the proof is Soft Airplane.
The Gaslight AnthemThe ‘59 Sound I love The Boss and I love good punk rock, imagine my surprise when a bunch of orgcore punkers turned me on to The Gaslight Anthem. The ‘59 Sound has those genuine to life lyrics that can’t be found in modern/radio rock and also has that genuine ‘rock’ thats hard to find in modern life.
JapantherTut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt Last summer Pop Montreal rolled around, a friend of mine says “Don’t miss Japanther at Divan Orange.” I did. But I picked up Tut Tut Now Shake Ya Butt and was hooked. If you can stand 20 minutes of poetry in between your noise punk than this is an album for you. It sure was for me.
Dark Was The Night will be released on February 17th, 2009. Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National produced the album, and John Carlin, the founder of the Red Hot Organization was the executive producer. A total of 32 exclusive tracks have been recorded for the compilation. It will be available as a double cd/triple vinyl/download and will benefit the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. Red Hot was founded on the premise that even without a cure, AIDS remains a preventable disease – and music is a great vehicle to raise money and awareness for it. This is the 20th year of Red Hot, and this is the 20th release!
WOW! Just check out the tracklist for this compilation:
THIS DISC (DISC ONE):
“Knotty Pine” - Dirty Projectors + David Byrne
“Cello Song” - The Books featuring Jose Gonzalez
“Train Song” - Feist and Ben Gibbard
“Brackett, WI” - Bon Iver
“Deep Blue Sea” - Grizzly Bear
“So Far Around The Bend” - The National
“Tightrope” - Yeasayer
“Feeling Good” - My Brightest Diamond
“Dark Was The Night” - Kronos Quartet
“I Was Young When I Left Home” - Antony with Bryce Dessner
“Big Red Machine” - Justin Vernon + Aaron Dessner
“Sleepless” - The Decemberists
“Stolen Houses (Die)” - Iron & Wine
“Service Bell” - Grizzly Bear + Feist
“You Are The Blood” - Sufjan Stevens
THAT DISC (DISC TWO):
“Well-Alright” - Spoon
“Lenin” - Arcade Fire
“Mimizan” - Beirut
“El Caporal” - My Morning Jacket
“Inspiration Information” - Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings
“With A Girl Like You” - Dave Sitek
“Blood Pt. 2″ - Buck 65 Remix (featuring Sufjan Stevens and Serengeti)
“Hey, Snow White” - The New Pornographers
“Gentle Hour” - Yo La Tengo
“Amazing Grace” - Cat Power
“Happiness” - Riceboy Sleeps
“Another Saturday” - Stuart Murdoch
“The Giant Of Illinois” - Andrew Bird
“Lua” - Conor Oberst with Gillian Welch
“When The Road Runs Out” - Blonde Redhead & Devastations
“Love Vs. Porn” - Kevin Drew
All new music on one great compilation! This is to good to be true. Check out Dark Was The Night myspace to listen to “Knotty Pine” by Dirty Projectors (with David Byrne).
Remember the awesome Yellow Bird Project? I spoke about them before. In a nutshell they get indie artists to design a shirt and pick a charity, they in turn sell the shirt and give profits to said charity. The latest artist to get shirt is now other than Elvis Perkins!
To Whom it May Concern
I did the album 
Huge lineup last night at La Sala Rossa. A triple bill with Monteal’s 
From 
Most people don’t mind making lists. I hate it. Especially a year end list. It’s a personal hell of mine. How in the hell can I quantify the difference between a folk album and hardcore album I like equally. The rage in me loves the angst (or is that the other way around?) of the hardcore album but my inner beard loves the folk album. It’s ripping me apart (which is why I waited so long to do this). So this year I’m just going to give my favorite 11 records of 2008. They are all ranked 1, but there are 11 (prime number) of them, I hope that doesn’t blow your mind but just deal with it and buy these albums, god dammit they’re all gold.
