From the album, ‘Here With Me’ (OUT TODAY), video directed by Zacarias Bezunartea, hosted by Stereogum. Please keep in mind, Jennifer and Dump will be playing NYC’s Mercury Lounge tomorrow night to commemorate the release of ‘Here With Me’.
While today marks the long awaited release date for Jennifer O’Connor’s new album, ‘Here With Me’, let’s hit the rewind button for a moment and recall “Sister” from Jennifer’s 3rd album, 2006’s ‘Over The Mountain, Across The Valley & Back To The Stars’. Said composition provides the musical backing for the above clip for the Stand Up To Cancer Movement, something that has considerable personal resonance for Ms. O’Connor (and quite probably for many of you reading this).
Back to the promo/marketing aspect of our daily blog, in addition to her huge pile of dates supporting ‘Here With Me’, the following new shows were just confirmed.
Oct. 16 Pontiac, MI Pike Room
Oct. 17 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle
Both nights are in support of The New Year, whose self-titled 3rd album comes out on Touch & Go this September 9.
Sat 9/13/08 I Am Festival @ Historic Waterfront Park New London CT
Thu 9/25/08 New Daisy Theater w/The Black Keys Memphis TN
Sat 10/11/08 Mojo’s, Columbia, MO
Sun 10/12/08 Riott Festival Chicago IL
Sun 10/12/08 Riott Festival Afterparty @ Double Door Chicago IL
Wed 10/15/08 Magic Stick Detroit Mi
Thu 10/16/08 Sneaky Dees Toronto ON
Fri 10/17/08 Babylon Ottawa, Canada ON
Sat 10/18/08 Cabaret Music Hall Montreal
Sun 10/19/08 Le Cercle, Quebec City QC
Tue 10/21/08 Halifax Pop Explosion, Halifax
Wed 10//22/08 Middle East Upstairs, Cambridge MA
Mon 10/27/08 Johnny Brenda’s Philadelphia PA
Tue 10/28/08 Black Cat Washington DC
Thu 10/30/08 LocaL 506 Chapel Hill NC
Fri 10/31/08 Variety Playhouse Atlanta GA w/Deerhunter and Times New Viking
Sat 11/1/08 Lenny’s Atlanta GA
Wed 11/5/08 Back Booth Orlando FL
Thu 11/6/08 Downunder Club @ FSU Tallahassee FL
Fri 11/7/08 One Eyed Jacks New Orleans LA
(thespian/rocker while playing the part of John Lennon’s assassin a typical independent label executive, and on the right, after hunger strike to protest non-payment of royalties)
If you think the fact that we have sold in excess of 2 million records and have never been paid a penny is pretty unbelievable, well, so do we. And the fact that EMI informed us that not only aren’t they going to pay us AT ALL but that we are still 1.4 million dollars in debt to them is even crazier. That the next record we make will be used to pay off that old supposed debt just makes you start wondering what is going on. Shouldn’t a record company be able to turn a profit from selling that many records? Or, at the very least, break even? We think so. - Jared Leto, 30 Seconds To Mars.
Harsh stuff, indeed, however Leto fails to disclose in his response to Virgin/EMI’s $30 million suit against his band precisely how much 30 Seconds To Mars were advanced against royalties. It does seem rather fucked that a record company couldn’t turn a profit on two million sales. However, it’s entirely possible that enough dough was dropped signing the band, recording their horrible records and promoting & marketing said recordings , that EMI did in fact, lose money on the deal.
Which doesn’t necessarily mean Leto and pals aren’t owed anything, either. But if he’s unwilling to specify which portion of EMI/Virgin’s spending on his behalf was recoupable and which wasn’t, this is just a dopey exercise in posturing. But I remain hopeful 30 Seconds To Mars can resume their career with an artist-friendly label, one that unlike the revolving chair scenario at publicly held EMI, has had the same visionary leadership in place since the label’s inception.
If Tony Victory would like to pay me a finder’s fee, I’ll gladly donate it to charity.
To the 95% of the population who didn’t get a chance to see Jay, Stephen and Billy back in May, your angry emails/prayers/sacrificial animal offerings/bribes/pleas have been answered. Please stop bothering us now. Seriously, I’m not joking.
The full Jay Reatard tour:
16-Nov - Green Synergy Festival, Dublin
18-Nov - Barrowlands 2, Glasgow
19-Nov - Deaf Institute, Manchester
20-Nov - The Faversham, Leeds
21-Nov - Korova, Liverpool
22-Nov - Bodega, Nottingham
23-Nov - The Cooler, Bristol
24-Nov - Old Blue Last, London
26-Nov - Sazerac (formerly Clockwork), London
27-Nov - Banquet Records (free in-store), London
28-Nov - Engine Rooms, Brighton
(TNV at the Whitney, photo taken from Forklift’s Flickr stream)
….to be more specific, No Age and Los Campesinos! in what our friends at Drowned In Sound have dubbed the Shred Yr Face Tour. Not to get all old-timer on you, but Faxed Head were trading in shredded faces years ago and nobody ever invited them to go overseas (deportations excepted).
10-14 Brighton, England - Komedia
10-15 Liverpool, England - Academy 2
10-16 Leeds, England - Irish Centre
10-17 Dublin, Ireland - Whelans
10-18 Glasgow, Scotland - School of Arts
10-20 London, England - Electric Ballroom
10-21 Bristol, England - Fleece
10-22 Manchester, England - Academy 3
Jerry Wexler, one of the pivotal figures in the history of R&B, rock’n'roll and the U.S. music industry, passed away Friday at the age of 91. From Joel Selvin’s obituary in the San Francisco Chronicle :
Wexler was the last living partner in the landmark record label, Atlantic Records, The label’s founder Ahmet Ertegun, who died at age 83 in 2006, brought Wexler to the Atlantic in 1953, where the two produced records together through the ’50s by artists such as the Drifters, Bobby Darin, Clyde McPhatter, LaVern Baker, Big Joe Turner, Ray Charles and others, helping to define the emerging sound of rock ‘n roll.
“My God, the Godfather of R&B creators has stepped behind the curtain and disappeared,” said Solomon Burke in a telephone interview. Wexler always said when asked who was the best performer of his day, “Solomon Burke with a borrowed band”.
Wexler, who would produce important records by Bob Dylan, Dusty Springfield, Willie Nelson, Wilson Pickett and others, worked with Ertegun in his first days at Atlantic producing “Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean” by Ruth Brown, not only one of the biggest-selling R&B records of the year, but a hit that helped young Atlantic Records survive.
Wexler even gave the music its name. As an editor at trade magazine Billboard, he changed the name of the charts in 1949 from “Race Records” to “Rhythm and Blues.”
“No one really knew how to make a record when I started,” he told the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “You simply went into the studio, turned on the mike and said play.
(photograph by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders, taken from Lou Reed.com)
We’re thrilled to announce that Matador will be releasing Lou Reed’s Berlin: Original Film Soundtrack on September 30 (digital) /October 7 (LP/CD), coinciding with the Weinstein Company’s October 6, 2008 DVD release of the Julian Schnabel film.
Upon the 1973 release of Berlin, Lou Reed’s controversial successor to the wildly popular Transformer, Rolling Stone’s Stephen Davis described it as one of “certain records so patently offensive that one wishes to take some kind of physical vengeance on the artists that perpetrate them…a distorted and degenerate demimonde of paranoia, schizophrenia, degradation, pill-induced violence and suicide.” A earnest pan, yes, but also a fabulous pull quote. Thirty years later, the magazine named it one of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Staging Berlin had been discussed for over 30 years, and in December of 2006 it became a reality, over four days at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. It was the first time Reed performed the album live.The New York Times said that Reed “wasn’t revisiting these songs as oldies or artifacts; he was reinhabiting them…Berlin carried Reed’s music to an ornate extreme, but now its trappings are secondary. What comes through is the way it feels.”
The film Berlin, by acclaimed painter/director Julian Schnabel (”Basquiat”, “Before Night Falls”, “The Diving Bell & The Butterfly”), documents these historic performances. Though the album’s harrowing qualities are well documented, the experience of seeing and hearing it brought to life was invigorating. More information about the film can be found athttp://www.berlinthefilm.com/.
Produced by Bob Ezrin and Hal Willner, and featuring musicians like Fernando Saunders, Antony, Steve Hunter, Rob Wassermann, Rupert Christie and Sharon Jones, a seven piece orchestra (including Eyvind Kang and Jane Scarpantoni), and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, this recording magnifies the cinematic quality of the original album. It also includes the three encores, “Candy Says,” “Rock Minuet,” and “Sweet Jane.”
Berlin remains one of the most alarming and frank highlights of a career marked by innovation and candor. Just as Schnabel’s effort is far more ambitious than your average concert film, this release stands as a majestic and poignant re-imagining of one of the 20th century’s most powerful works.
Lou Reed is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and has been awarded the Chevalier Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Government, and the prestigious Hero Award by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. His incisive, literate approach to popular (and unpopular) music has spanned five decades, with a remarkable lack of complacency. Reed is undoubtedly one of the most important and influential living musicians, and the creative landscape that we survey in 2008 — including much of this label’s back catalog — is very difficult to imagine without his contributions. More material related to Reed’s career can be found at http://www.loureed.com.
While we’re waiting for a few more confirmations before we can announce all the details of Shearwater’s October run of East Coast dates, tickets for an October 20 show at (Le) Poisson Rouge just went on sale today. We hope to see you there….but try not to wear too much poison rouge.
…opening for Wilco, that is, and in front of one of the larger mobs we’ve seen J’OC dazzle to date. That’s Matador alum Chris Brokaw playing guitar on the right, and if you think I’m gonna list all the great bands he’s been in while typing with my thumbs, you’re crazy.
Kind of weird that 3 Matador artists (Jennifer, Yo La Tengo, Times New Viking) are playing McCarren in the pool’s final days as a music venue. Never let it be said this label’s roster doesn’t know how to suck all the life out of a party close things out in style.
Here at Matador, we’re counting down the hours to Tuesday’s release of the brand new Jennifer O’Connor album, “Here With Me” (and making due in the meantime with this convenient Rhapsody album stream).
Here’s a little more backstory on the album, where Jennifer discusses the makeup of her crack band.
Though Pitchfork, Stereogum and Wired all linked to the above clip — directed by Dominic Hailstone — yesterday, for some reason the MySpace video is no longer functioning. So here’s a YouTube clip instead of “Batcat” from the forthcoming Mogwai LP/CD ‘The Hawk Is Howling’, in stores and online on September 23.
The above video along with an animated version of the same song and a film about Mogwai directed by Vincent Moon & Teresa Eggers constitute the DVD portion of the CD/DVD edition of the new album.
If you missed this truly amazing evening with Shearwater, or just want to see it over and over the show is now readily available. The wonderful people at Baeble Music recorded it and are streaming the first set in which they played Rook in it’s entirety. Here’s a preview of show with the band playing Leviathan, Bound. Full set can be enjoyed here.
For those who can’t wait until next Tuesday (8/19) to soak in Jaguar Love’s debut album, “Take Me To The Sea”, well, you don’t have to - MySpace and Jaguar Love have your back, and the album is streaming now at the band’s page:
And don’t forget to check out the “Show Us Your Jaguar Love” contest while you’re there - that is, if you like words like “autographed” and “concert tickets”…Who doesn’t, those are great words!
The day is almost done. ALMOST. There’s still time for you to learn that NPR picked our very own Jennifer O’Connor’s “Here With Me” for their song of the day today. See it HERE and listen as you do whatever it is that you do to count out this monday.
“Here With Me” is a song to build a mix tape around. Flawlessly constructed from bare acoustic riffs and crisp beats, the track lets O’Connor’s half-plaintive, half-expectant vocals tell a universal story of desire and hope.”
Nice! We still have a couple of signed LP Jackets available as a free gift for pre-ordering Jennifer’s new album Here With Me, which will hit the streets August 19th!
Click HERE to order a copy for a sale price before street date
Ignoring the somewhat pathetic pleading on the part of someone who may or may not work for a record company, Times New Viking have eschewed demands to release a 10″ EP, instead going the old tried and tested 7″ route with the forthcoming “Stay Awake”, due October 21.
SIDE A:
1. CALL & RESPOND
2. PAGAN EYES
3. HATE HATE HATE
SIDE B:
1. NO SYMPATHY
2. SICK & TYRED
All five songs will be available via the Matador Download Shoppe, and other goodlooking (if a tad monolithic) digital music emporiums.
To celebrate this achievement in recording/consumer anxiety, Times New Viking have the following shows forthcoming in the place we like to call America.
Sat-Aug-30 Brooklyn, NY McCarren Park Pool (with Sonic Youth)
Wed-Sep-17 Champaign, IL Pygmalion Music Festival
Fri-Sep-19 Oberlin, OH Oberlin Colleg
Fri-Oct-31 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
Sat-Nov-01 Asheville, NC Orange Peel
Sun-Nov-02 Carrboro, NC Cat’s Cradle
Mon-Nov-03 Baltimore, MD Otto Bar
Tue-Nov-04 Washington, DC Black Cat
Wed-Nov-05 Philadelphia, PA First Unitarian Church
Thu-Nov-06 Princeton, NJ Terrace Club
Fri-Nov-07 Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
Sat-Nov-08 New York, NY Bowery Ballroom
Mon-Nov-10 Boston, MA Paradise
Tue-Nov-11 Montreal, QUE Theatre Plaza
Wed-Nov-12 Toronto, ONT Lee’s Palace
Thu-Nov-13 Pontiac, MI Crofoot Ballroom
Fri-Nov-14 Cleveland, OH Grog Shop
Sat-Nov-15 Chicago, IL Metro
Sun-Nov-16 Madison, WI High Noon
Mon-Nov-17 Minneapolis, MN Triple Rock
Thu-Nov-20 Vancouver, BC Richards on Richards
Fri-Nov-21 Seattle, WA Neumo’s
Mon-Nov-24 San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
Tue-Nov-25 Los Angeles, CA El Rey
Fri-Nov-28 San Diego, CA Casbah
Sat-Nov-29 Phoenix, AZ Modified
Mon-Dec-01 Dallas, TX The Loft
Tue-Dec-02 Austin, TX Emo’s Outside
Wed-Dec-03 Houston, TX Warehouse Live
Thu-Dec-04 Baton Rouge, LA Spanish Moon
Fri-Dec-05 New Orleans, LA One Eyed Jacks
Sat-Dec-06 Birmingham, AL Bottletree
Please send an email to the revealed address with “Jay Reatard” as the subject line. Those that email us in time to get a record will see a buy-link appear in the store when they log into their account within the hour. Make sure to send an email from your Matador Store registered email address. To be clear, sending an emailDOES NOTensure that you’ll get a copy. If you have yet to sign up for a Matador Store account please do so here.
We have even fewer copies of this 7″ than we had of the last one so we’re taking these extra steps to ensure that everyone gets a fair shake at getting a copy. That means less server lock-up, no waiting in the checkout line, and (hopefully) less confusion in general. Good luck!
Not sure about the legal definition of “popular demand,” but this might actually apply. At long last, They Shoot, We Score collects all of our music — plus outtakes — for the motion pictures Game 6, Junebug, Old Joy, and Shortbus in one handy-dandy compact disc. Nearly an hour of instrumental music. 27 tracks — 26 of them previously unreleased. Eight-page booklet features posters from around the world. Four different front covers, one for each movie. Don’t collect them all, and don’t ask for a specific one — they will be sent out according to a random-number generator by our blindfolded mail-order crew.
TRACK LISTING: OLD JOY 1. Leaving Home 2. Getting Lost 3. Path to Springs 4. Driving Home
5. Leaving Home (alternate version) 6. Old Joy: End Credits JUNEBUG 7. Ashley 8. Meerkats 9. Madeline
10. A Roomful of Ladies (outtake) 11. David Wark 12. Aftermath (outtake) 13. George GAME 6 14. This Could Be It
15. The Phantom Who Haunts Broadway 16. Game Time 17. Pharaoh Blues 18. Zoo Chant 19. Love Chant 20. Asbestos
21. Return of the Pharaoh 22. Spec Bebop 23. Buckner’s Boner SHORTBUS 24. Isolation Tank
25. Panic in Central Park (outtake) 26. Panic in Central Park 27. Wizard’s Sleeve
(LABEL INTERJECTION : this blindfolded mail-order crew sounds awesome. We might have to put them in charge of filling our future Jay Reatard 7″ orders. But in all seriousness, Yo La Tengo are playing a free show at Brooklyn’s lovely McCarren Park Pool on Sunday, August 24).
Jennifer, James McNew our own Gabe Spierer and some awesome midday traffic (isn’t there a law against honking for no reason?) in the first of 3 label-commissioned clips where JOC discusses her upcoming LP/CD ‘Here With Me’ (in stores and online August 19)
A study, published in today’s Australasian Psychiatry Journal, found that teens who listen to pop music are more likely to be struggling with their sexuality, those tuning in to rap or heavy metal could be having unprotected sex and drink-driving, and those who favour jazz are usually misfits and loners, prompting a call for doctors to include musical tastes as a diagnostic indicator in mental health assessments.
“There is no evidence to suggest that the type of music you listen to will cause you to commit suicide, but those who are vulnerable and at risk of committing suicide may be listening to certain types of music,” the author of the study, Felicity Baker, said yesterday.
She said an Australian study of year 10 students had shown significant associations between heavy metal music and suicide ideation, depression, delinquency and drug-taking, while an American study had also shown that young adults who regularly listened to heavy metal had a higher preoccupation with suicide and higher levels of depression than their peers.
Deliberate self-harm and attempted suicide was also associated with teenagers who listened to trance, techno, heavy metal and medieval music as part of the goth subculture, while those who attended dance parties were much more likely than their peers to be taking drugs.
Some genres of rap music, such as French rap, were linked to more deviant behaviours including theft, violence and drug use, while teens listening to hip-hop were usually less troublesome, Dr Baker said.
The AJP’s study has no specific findings that relate to followers of the band Godsmack, though from our own considered research, they’re a bunch of nitwits.
I dunno about you, but I’m having serious nightmares looking at that flyer. Personal problems aside, Jaguar Love started their coast-to-coast tour with the Faint this week, and along with being dubbed Spin.com’s “Artist Of The Day” (tomorrow’s choice : Gaugin), “Bonetrees & A Broken Heart” from the forthcoming ‘Take Me To The Sea’ LP/CD can be heard in streaming fashion at the band’s MySpace page.
On top of all that, the band have neatly slid beyond mere social networking with the launch of their own official website.
‘Take Me To The Sea’ is currently available for preorder at the Matador Store (CD, $8, LP, $12) and early adopters are entitled to a free poster with each purchase.
Permanent Records is a new-ish record store in my neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn. When I started doing my record store visit posts on tour, I knew at some point I wanted to do one on Permanent. I visit this store at least once a week when I’m in town. They have an amazing selection of used cds and vinyl and the right selection of new titles so when I want to pick up a new release they usually have it.
I talked to Marjorie (owner) and Ron.
Marjorie, Ron, Me
JO’C: Permanent used to be in Long Island, right? Why the move to Greenpoint?
Marjorie: Well, I live in Brooklyn, so the commute is much easier now. Also, as much as I liked Northport, people are much more supportive of music here.
JO’C: So you like having the store here in Greenpoint? How long have you been here?
Marjorie: Yes, I can hardly remember what it was like before. We opened the store in Greenpoint in May of 2007. It’s actually more like being in a small town here in Greenpoint than it was in Northport. Which is pretty rare for being in an urban setting.
JO’C: Greenpoint does feel like a small town. I think its one of the things I like most about living here.
What are your favorite places to eat in Greenpoint. This is the one question I ask of all the stores….
Ron: Brooklyn Label - They have a good balance of veggie and meat selections. And the coffee is good.
JO’C : I go to Brooklyn Label all the time. I’ve never even heard of The Habitat - new place to go!
Ok, what do you sell the most of in the store?
Marjorie: I’d say we’d sell the most used LPs, then used cds, then new lps, then new cds.
JO’C: That makes sense to me - as someone who comes here frequently and buys like 20 used cds at a time. ****
Marjorie: I’ve always enjoyed letting the used collections that I buy dictate the inventory I stock. We definitely carry new titles, but our niche is more used items.
JO’C: What’s the first record(s) you remember buying as a kid?
Marjorie: Yes Fragile. Blondie Heart of Glass 45 and Parliament Flashlight 45
Ron: Kiss Love Gun 45 and Aimee Stewart Knock on Wood 45
JO’C: Marjorie, I think you are the first woman record store owner I’ve ever come across, in all my years going to record stores. Do you know any other women who own record stores?
Marjorie: Not currently…
JO’C: I’ve always wanted to have my own store. Maybe someday….
What’s your favorite and least favorite thing about owning a record store?
Marjorie: Well, being my own boss is my favorite. And being my own boss, is also probably my least favorite.
JO’C: I hear that.
And you do instores here at Permanent right?
Marjore: Yup. We’ve done close to 20 or so in the last year.
JO’C: As a matter of fact, I am doing an instore at Permanent on Saturday August 23 at 3pm - to celebrate the Aug 19 release of my new record Here With Me. It’s free! (the instore, not the record).
****I should not neglect to note that there is an awesome 99 cent cd section at Permanent and a 5 for $10 cd section. Also, dollar lps and really great prices on everything really - new and used. If you are a record store fanatic like me, and live in the NYC area, you should really come check this store out!!
In addition to this Friday’s date in Denver, we’re happy to confirm Brightblack Morning Light have an American tour timed to commemorate the release of the forthcoming new album. This trip is being called The Crystal Totem Turr and Avocet will be supporting all shows until 10/18 (with the exception of the 10/08 show in Eugene).
10/02/2008 The Tractor Tavern, Seattle
10/03/2008 The Helm Gallery, Tacoma
10/05/2008 Doug Fir Lounge, Portland
10/08/2008 Sam Bonds Garage, Eugene
10/10/2008 Humboldt Brews, Arcata
10/11/2008 Delta of Venus, Davis
10/14/2008 Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco
10/15/2008 Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco
10/16/2008 Starry Plough, Berkeley
10/18/2008 Historic Brookdale Lodge, Brookdale
10/20/2008 Casbah, San Diego
10/21/2008 Detroit Bar, Costa Mesa
11/05/2008 Hailey?s, Denton
11/06/2008 Club Deville, Austin
11/07/2008 Spanish Moon, Baton Rouge
11/08/2008 One Eyed Jacks, New Orleans
11/10/2008 Eyedrum, Atlanta
11/11/2008 Caledonia Lounge, Athens
11/12/2008 Grey Eagle Tavern, Asheville
11/13/2008 Local 506, Chapel Hill
11/14/2008 Talking Head, Baltimore
11/16/2008 BAR Nightclub, New Haven
11/17/2008 LPR, New York
11/18/2008 South Paw, Brooklyn
11/20/2008 Beachland Tavern, Cleveland
11/21/2008 Magic Stick, Detroit
11/22/2008 Hideout, Chicago
11/24/2008 Waiting Room, Omaha
