As music fans, we’re constantly swimming in a deep sea of band names. From the minimalist (The The) to the extravagant (The Pains of Being Pure At Heart) and everything in between, it often seems like bands put just as much creativity into their monikers as they do with their music.
Just imagine a band’s frustration when, after establishing a snappy name for themselves, they discover some other new young upstarts who dared to name themselves something disturbingly similar. The nerve!
As much as it must drive bands crazy to have the added task of distancing themselves from their similarly named peers, it is an equally challenging burden for us music fans to have to mentally organize the wealth of music out there. That’s why we’re here to help!
What’s been going on in the world of music lately? Read on to get the scoop on your favorite artists, and start some discussion about current music-related events!
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Plans for Record Store Day celebrations on April 18th are being confirmed all across the nation. The Cold War Kids are using the music lovers’ holiday to release a new live EP. What’s more, the band will be in Wisconsin the following day. Got your tickets to their Waukesha gig yet?! In a similar fashion, The Breeders are releasing an EP of their own to celebrate the event. How are you going to spend the day? What are your favorite local record stores?
The Breeders
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It seems like everyone in the world made the pilgrimage to Austin last week for the indie rock Mecca of a festival, SXSW. If you missed out on the sounds, you can still experience the sights with this photo gallery of performances.
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The Duke Spirit recently stopped by the The Current’s studios. Listen to their performance/interview here!
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Rolling Stone previews 45 (!) of the most anticipated Spring releases, including new albums from Green Day, Regina Spektor, Wilco, Sonic Youth, Black Moth Super Rainbow (who will be in Madison May 21), New York Dolls, Mos Def and The Avett Brothers.
Regina Spektor
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Have you become totally obsessed with Twitter yet? You will be after reading Stereogum’s list of the Top 50 Rock Star Twitters! While you’re at it, come Twitter with us.
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It has been a sad week in the music world. Blues fans are mourning the loss of New Orleans-based pianist and singer Eddie Bo, who passed away from a heart attack last week. Motown drummer Uriel Jones (who collaborated with the likes of Marvin Gaye, The Miracles, and Jimmy Ruffin) also died recently.
Eddie Bo
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Blender magazine announced that it’s shutting its doors. The last line of this news story sums up the sentiments of so many music fans: “R.I.P. Blender. I wont miss you, but others will.”
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Listen to a brand new Death Cab For Cutie track here!
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Is streaming music online a bad thing? This guy seems to think so.
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Listen to a great NPR interview with Black Joe Lewis! Aaaaand a not-so-great one from Sigur Ros. In fact, according to NPR, it just might be the worst interview ever. EVER.
Black Joe Lewis
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UWIRE wants to take you on tours of the music scenes in various major American college towns. (Yup, Madison too!)
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What’s been going on in the world of music lately? Read on to get the scoop on your favorite artists, and start some discussion about current music-related events!
The Duke Spirit, who have played to Madison fans at several shows over the last year, announced plans to release their next album in an exclusive deal with Target stores. Along with the album’s release will come a clothing line inspired by the band’s frontwoman, Liela Moss.
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Stereogum is streaming Animal Collective‘s 1/20/09 show at the Bowery Ballroom. Click here to check it out!
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YouTube has begun using “overlay links” allowing users to purchase songs while viewing videos. Have you tried out this new feature? Do you like it, or is this kind of advertising too invasive?
Check out TV On The Radio‘s cover of David Bowie‘s “Heroes,” from the upcoming War Child charity album, also featuring Lily Allen, Peaches, Hot Chip, Elbow and many more!
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and openers The Duke Spirit rocked a packed house at the High Noon this May. Check out what the show was like or re-live the experience..
Can you keep up after last weeks intense run? Oh yes you can! Summer is rolling around and that means tour schedules will slow down- so get it while it’s hot (or at least before you have to travel 4 hrs. for a touring band and a beer)!
Friday May 2
THE DIRTBOMBS with special guests DAN SARTAIN & TERRIBLE TWOS
Genre: Rock
“..rock and roll at its pure, shaggy best. If you’re tired of that, you’re tired of life…” -Splendid
RA RA RIOT + THE LITTLE ONES with special guests HEY CHAMP
Genre: Indie/ Folk Rock
“Ra Ra Riot – a band of Syracuse University students past, present and on hiatus – find that balance — already in its short life, literally putting heartbeats and pacemakers into the stuffing of all of the songs that they’ve thus far put to their name – an explosive tag of cheerful and misleading aggression…” -Daytrotter
“The Little Ones..are here for you to feel better about yourself, once the cabin fever has lost its control and you’re free to go. They taunt everything from the waist down — on everyone within a 10-mile radius — to not go on and freak out all over the place with euphoric spasms becoming dancing and universally recognized getting down…” -Daytrotter
$1.50 PBR bottles all night & FREE Pizza from Glass Nickel!
Thanks to WORT FM and The Onion!
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Tuesday May 6
TEGAN AND SARA Out of Hibernation Tour with special guest AN HORSE
Genre: Indie/ Pop/ Alternative
“..defying conventional notions of rock rhythm, and featuring songs that seem to go through at least three melodic changes before recycling.” -Onion AV Club
“With accompaniment as varied as vocals from Ollabelle and Brazilian percussion from Mauro Refosco, White still keeps us off balance with rich, unpredictable textures that convey lost-in-the-backwoods disorientation.” -Billboard
Coachella, the mother of all alternative music festivals, took place this past weekend, and even if you weren’t fortunate enough to take in the cornucopia of sounds from the California deserts, a number of outlets are providing extensive video, audio and blogging coverage. In addition to the headline-grabbing indie coronation of Prince and the chilling comeback performance of Portishead, a number of performers coming soon to Madison also made their mark.
Tegan and Sara, performing at the Barrymore next Tuesday, May 6, first gained a moment in the spotlight three years ago on a small stage of Coachella and performed on a larger stage at this year’s festival. The Canadian twins continue to gain notoriety on a larger scale for their quirky stage banter and emotional songwriting, blogging a numberof entries from the festival for RollingStone.com. Tegan and Sara are also just off the heels of an impressive performance last week of their current anthem, “The Con” on the Tonight Show, viewable below:
Taking a break from the midst of a tour that is selling out nearly every theater it touches, The Swell Season (Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova) also performed an alluring set; a preview of what’s to come when the duo plays the Overture Center on Monday, June 16. The “Once” stars were recently featured in the San Francisco Chronicle discussing their newfound fame. Recent acts passing through town this spring, including Man Man, Vampire Weekend, Stars and Jens Lekman also played the festival.
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club are currently touring around the globe and have been grabbingheadlines from a decision earlier this year to part ways with its record label, RCA. They are currently going it alone, looking toward independent release options in the near future. BRMC will be hitting the High Noon Saloon with guests The Duke Spirit on Saturday, May 3.
Performing at the Annex the Sunday night following BRMC, Ra Ra Riot will be splitting a bill with The Little Ones for a $10 show — likely the last time Madison music fans will be able to see the up-and-coming indie-string-pop troupe, recently interviewed on GrooveShark.com, in such an intimate venue.
In other news, we are happy to announce that Madison fave Lyle Lovett will be passing through down this summer — on Sunday, July 13, at Overture Hall. The Capitol Times wrote a nice preview of the show, for which tickets went on sale this past Saturday.
Finally, in case you missed a few of the recent shows in Madison, here’s a few reviews to find out what you missed:
“[Colin] Meloy charmed a modest but enraptured crowd at the Barrymore Theater Wednesday night with his quirk, his humor and his unbelievable solo chops.” — Wisconsin State Journal
“Decemberists shows are giddily geeky affairs, full of high-energy, literary-minded rock songs that draw the audience in with singalongs and other audience participation bits. By comparison, Meloy’s solo shows are less of a three-ring circus and more of a friendly conversation between singer and his audience.” — The Capitol Times
“The [New] Pornographers nearly had that show stolen right out from under them by opening act Okkervil River, which played a flat-out amazing hourlong opening set. The Pornographers have been touring with the Austin roots-rock group for about two weeks, and you have to think that following that every night forces Newman and company to raise their game even higher.” — The Capitol Times
“This was my first time hearing material from Challengers live, which really cemented my appreciation for that record. I’ll concede the stage looks a little bare bones sans Neko [Case] and Dan, but that didn’t stop the band from putting on a great power pop rock show.” — Muzzle of Bees
And that’s it for now. Tickets for many of the shows mentioned above are still available from TrueEndeavors.com. See you at the shows!
Not excited about the beginning of the work week? Lets start it out then with a pair of free concert tix..feel better yet?
April 29 THE MEDIC DROID + A CURSIVE MEMORY
The Medic Droid is for those who are bored with genres and titles. Full of sassiness and attitude, this trio fuses dance music with indie rock power and punk rock DIY ethics, The Medic Droid have created their own scene.
“..with their first major record label release the Californian quartet (A Cursive Memory) exploded into the scene with catchy tunes that reminisce of Hellogoodbye’s rise to fame. Infectious keyboard and a pair of soft vocals lead this pop rock driven band.” -AbsolutePunk.net
How A Cursive Memory Became Bandarazzi!
SPECIAL EARLY SHOW With guests SINGLE FILE and THE WHITE TIE AFFAIR Tuesday 6:30 pm (doors open 6:00 pm) @ Orpheum Stage Door 608.255.8755 $8 / $10 dos – all ages BUY TICKETS NOW! Tickets also available at Strictly Discs!
The 4th person to email MJ@TrueEndeavors.com with the subject line TMD & ACM Tix will win 2 guest list spots to this show.
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May 3 BLACK REBEL MOTORCYCLE CLUB
With special guests THE DUKE SPIRIT Saturday 9:30 pm @ High Noon Saloon 608- 268-1122 $16 adv / $18 dos – 18+ BUY TICKETS NOW!
Be the 5th person to email MJ@TrueEndeavors.com with the subject line “Win Rebel Tix” and you will receive 2 guest list spots to the show!
