Tonight: Death Cab For Cutie, Ra Ra Riot, Cold War Kids at Roy Wilkins Auditorium

*MP3: Death Cab For Cutie - "Little Bribes"

Tonight, Death Cab For Cutie, Ra Ra Riot and Cold War Kids are all playing at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium. Pretty rad bill, I'm voting yes.



*MP3: Ra Ra Riot - "Ghost Under Rocks"



*MP3: Cold War Kids - "Relief"

(Ian Anderson)

Death Cab For Cutie - "I Was Once A Loyal Lover"

*MP3: Death Cab for Cutie - "I Was Once a Loyal Lover"

Death Cab For Cutie's new release, "The Open Door," is now available on iTunes via Atlantic Records. I've been enjoying it all day. Here is my current favorite from the five-song (plus one video) EP.

But it on iTunes.

(Ian Anderson)

Death Cab For Cutie - "My Mirror Speaks"

Stereogum just posted the latest Death Cab For Cutie track from their upcoming EP (out on Tuesday). "My Mirror Speaks" is the best so far and really should have made the album.

Listen to it HERE.

(Ian Anderson)

Death Cab For Cutie - "Love Song" (Cure Cover)

*MP3: Death Cab For Cutie - "Love Song" (Cure Cover)

Pretty neat.

Death Cab For Cutie on MySpace

Video: Death Cab For Cutie - "Cath" (Live on "Late Night With Conan O'Brien")

Death Cab For Cutie's "We Have The Facts" For Sale on Amazon for $1.99

Do it, do it now.

Click HERE to buy your copy and start the revolution.

(Ian Anderson)

Death Cab for Cutie To Open For Neil Young in St. Paul

Download: Death Cab for Cutie - "I Will Possess Your Heart"

Taken directly from the Death Cab MySpace Blog:

Death Cab for Cutie is excited to announce their fall North American and European tour which will include the band's first performance at the legendary Radio City Music Hall, a bunch of US and Canadian shows with Neil Young and lots of new European tour dates. This tour will also feature the band's first time through quite a few US cities since the release of their new album "Narrow Stairs".

For full tour information and ticket links please visit:

Death Cab for Cutie North America / Europe Fall Tour:

October 3 - Agganis Arena - Boston, MA

October 4 - Chevrolet Theater - Wallingford, CT

October 5 - House of Blues at The Showboat - Atlantic City, NJ

October 6 - Radio City Music Hall - New York, NY

October 8 - LC Outdoor Amphitheater - Columbus, OH

October 12 - University of Illinois - Assembly Champaign, IL

October 13 - Fox Theatre - St. Louis, MO


Opening for Neil Young:

October 14 - Xcel Energy Center - St. Paul, MN

October 16 - MTS Centre - Winnipeg, MB

October 18 - Brandt Centre - Regina, SK

October 19 - Pengrowth Saddledone - Calgary, AB

October 21 - Comcast Arena at Everett - Everett, WA

October 22 - General Motors Place - Vancouver, BC


October 29 - Cox Arena - San Diego, CA

October 30 - The Forum, Inglewood, CA

November 1 - Reno Events Center - Reno, NV

November 4 - Sprint Center - Kansas City, MO

November 5 - Qwest Center - Omaha, NE



Europe:

November 12 - St. Georges Market - Belfast, Northern Ireland

November 13 - Ambassador Theatre - Dublin, Ireland

November 14 - Corn Exchange - Edinburgh, Scotland
.
November 15 - Rock City - Nottingham, England
.
November 16 - Colston Hall - Bristol, England

November 17 - Carling Academy - Sheffield, England
.

November 19 - Alexandra Palace - London England
.

November 20 - Crossing Border Festival - The Hague, The Netherlands
More information available at the Crossing Border Festival website: http://www.crossingborder.nl/home_en.php

November 21 - Muffathalle - Munich, Germany
Tickets on-sale date TBA

November 22 - Les Halles - Brussels, Belgium
Tickets on-sale August 20th

November 23 - Paris, France - Bataclan
Tickets on-sale August 19

November 24 - Ringlokschuppen - Bielfeld, Germany
Tickets on-sale date TBA

November 25 - Admiralspalast - Berlin, Germany

Death Cab for Cutie - Live on "Sound Opinions"

(via CPR's Flickr Page)

Based on the fact that their sixth album Narrow Stairs, which was their first to debut at number one on the Billboard album charts, has received a goodly amount of positive reviews, it's not just the heart of the unwitting recipient of Ben Gibbard's nefarious attentions that DCfC possess. Rather, it would seem that many music aficionados are fond of the Seattle-based quartet as well; two of them being Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis, Chicago music critics who host NPR's self-described "world's only rock n' roll talk show" Sound Opinions.

KotN'DeRog recently invited the band for a performance and interview, which both recently took place at the Chicago Cultural Center. The results of that session were recently aired on "Sound Opinions" this past weekend, and you can listen to the show in its entirety here. The group talk to Greg and Jim about their career trajectory, their creative and recording process, and that little TV show they were on a few years back. Listen to Death Cab perform second Narrow Stairs single "Cath" at the top of the post.

Listen to the band perform other songs, including some which were not featured in the original broadcast, here

Death Cab for Cutie MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)
jon@minneapolisfuckingrocks.com

Current TV Screens Documentary About Death Cab for Cutie (Plus: Stream Narrow Stairs In Its Entirety)

Narrow Stairs might have stumbled a bit on the way to P4K-land, but those who want to know about the creation process for Death Cab for Cutie's sixth album, and second for a major label, can watch the documentary that Current TV did about the band titled Open Windows. Watch it here.

Thanks to reader Lauren Mendoza for the tip!

Narrow Stairs is out tomorrow. Stream the album in its entirety over here.

Death Cab for Cutie MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

MTV News Interviews Death Cab for Cutie about Narrow Stairs

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

Download: Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Possess Your Heart"
Download: Death Cab For Cutie - "405" (Acoustic)

In addition to your heart, it would seem that Death Cab for Cutie also possess many articulate statements about switching from indies to the major label, making records in general, and the creative process as a whole. In promotion of Narrow Stairs, frontman Ben Gibbard gave an interview to MTV News about the aforementioned topics. Read the article here, or watch the video at the top of the post.

One statement in particular caught my eye. About bands switching from indies to majors, and why doing so usually ends up as a disaster for both parties, Gibbard said:

"We weren't going to be that indie band that signs to a major label and gets really precious about everything, or decides that we want to go about our lives the way we did when we were on Barsuk [Records], and then wonder why we didn't sell any records. That's usually the end of 'indie band signs to major label': things don't happen the way they wanted it to," he continued. "Because nine times out of 10, people don't want to do the work. We said to ourselves, 'We're going to do all the work, all the touring, all the press,' and that's what we did."

Seven word rebuttal: Husker Du on "The Joan Rivers Show". Another six word rebuttal: The Replacements on "Saturday Night Live". Furthermore, it's not like those bands decided to make atonal free jazz once they jumped their erstwhile indie homes. Indeed, The Mats made two of their best records, Tim and Pleased to Meet Me, while on a major label, Sire. And what did Sire do to promote these albums?

Well...

If that's not work, I don't want to know what is.

Narrow Stairs is out a week from today.

Death Cab for Cutie MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

New Video: Death Cab for Cutie - "I Will Possess Your Heart"

Stalk-tastic! Also, the more I listen to this song, the more I like the extended introduction and the less I like the more straightforward section that follows.

Death Cab MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Death Cab for Cutie Announce New North American Tour Dates (Including Minneapolis and Chicago!)

Download: Death Cab For Cutie - "Prove My Hypothesis"

Hot off the band's MySpace blog:

Death Cab for Cutie has added more North American tour dates to follow the release of their new album NARROW STAIRS on May 13th. Special ticket pre-sales for fan club members will take place for all of the following tour dates.

05/26/08 Lehi, UT @ Thanksgiving Point
06/02/08 Minneapolis, MN @ Orpheum Theatre
06/03/08 Chicago, IL @ Millenium Park Pritzker Pavilion
06/06/08 Montreal, QC @ Jacques Cartier Pier
06/07/08 Toronto, ON @ Toronto Olympic Island
06/10/08 Brooklyn, NY @ McCarren Park Pool
06/12/08 Philadelphia, PA @ Mann Center for Performing Arts
06/14/08 Indianapolis, IN @ The Lawn at White River State
06/19/08 Mesa, AZ @ Mesa Amphitheatre
06/21/08 Berkeley, CA @ Greek Theatre

Head on over to DCFC's website to join their fan club--DCFC Local Union 1138--so that you can get in on the early ticket sales, which start on Wednesday, April 2nd. Hey, since Death Cab are union guys, do you think they support Hillary for President? ZING!. "Tonight Show", here I come!

Narrow Stairs is out on May 13th.

Death Cab for Cutie MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

New Death Cab for Cutie - "I Will Possess Your Heart"

Download: Death Cab For Cutie - "I Will Possess Your Heart"

The first single from Death Cab for Cutie's upcoming effort, Narrow Stairs, was leaked to the internet today. I'm gonna hold off on making my opinion known on this track, due to the fact that this song will probably make the Elbo.ws charts its slave for the next couple of weeks. I will say this: the atmospheric opening to this 8-minute epic sounds a goodly amount like the opening to Wilco's "Heavy Metal Drummer". The piano chords are certainly similar.

Narrow Stairs is out in May.

Death Cab for Cutie MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Death Cab For Cuite Announce New Narrow Stairs Information (Tracklist, First Single, New Live Shows, Oh My!)

Download: Death Cab For Cutie - "Bend To Squares"
Download: Death Cab For Cutie - "Prove My Hypothesis"
Download: Death Cab For Cutie - "Crooked Teeth"

Death Cab For Cutie announced late yesterday evening on their MySpace blog the tracklist, release date, and tour dates for their upcoming album Narrow Stairs, their sixth full-length album and second for a major label. The eleven song affair with be released on May 13th.

Here's the tracklist:

NARROW STAIRS track listing:

1. Bixby Canyon Bridge
2. I Will Possess Your Heart
3. No Sunlight
4. Cath…
5. Talking Bird
6. You Can Do Better Than Me
7. Grapevine Fires
8. Your New Twin Sized Bed
9. Long Division
10. Pity and Fear
11. The Ice Is Getting Thinner

Sounds cheery, no? The first single from the album will be Stairs' second track, "I Will Possess Your Heart".

We all know that Jack Black was talking about Belle & Sebastian when he was complaining about "Sad Bastard Music", but if these album titles are any indication of what Stairs will sound like, Black's description just may apply here as well.

But then again, maybe DC will challenge listeners. At least, that's what Death Cab bassist Nick Harmer is quoted as saying in the aforementioned MySpace post. Harmer states that "I hope this album is a bit of a surprise for those out there that think they have us all figured out. We can't wait to share these songs with the world."

Well, alright then. Those readers who want Death Cab to surprise them personally will, in a sense, have the opportunity to get gobsmacked when the band rolls into their town. Along with previously scheduled festival dates like Coachella, Death Cab have announced more live shows. Here they be:

April 18 Bremerton, WA @ Admiral Theatre
April 19 Eugene, OR @ McDonald Theatre
April 21 Arcata, CA @ Van Dozer Theatre/Humboldt State University
April 22 Davis, CA @ UC Davis-Freeborn Hall
April 23 San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
April 24 Las Vegas, NV @ The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel

So no Minneapolis date for now. Once Narrow Stairs gets closer to release, we're sure that once will be announced.

Narrow Stairs is out on May 13th.

Death Cab For Cutie MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)