The Alarmists Announce New Album The Overhead Left

It's been a while since the scene has heard from The Alarmists in record form, though the band has been keeping plenty busy in terms of playing live gigs. But now, in a post on their MySpace blog, the power-popsters have announced that a new album is coming this summer. The record is titled The Overhead Left, and the record will be released sometime in early June. The Alarmists have also lined up a record release show to celebrate Left. That will take place on June 12th at the Varsity Theater. If and when the band debuts new material from The Overhead Left, MFR will let you know.

In the meantime, check out some of their older material here.

The Alarmists MySpace Page

(Jon Graef)

The 757s Announce New Album for May

Late Spring is quite the month for Minneapolis music: not only are there new releases from Black Blondie, Daughters of the Sun, and Big Quarters, set for April and May, but now you can add a new name to that very promising list: The 757s. 

In a short, but no doubt sweet, tweet on their Twitter page, the melodically mid-tempo rockers announced that they have their new discs in their hands, and that a release date has been set: May 1st at the Uptown Bar. So there you have it. Any other information, including a title, tracklisting, first single, etc, is yet to come, but once it does, you know we'll be on it.

In the meantime, read the Star-Trib's glowing write-up of the band here

The 757s MySpace Page

(Jon Graef)

Kristoff Krane To Digitally Release New EP In Late Spring

Last year's debut LP, This Will Work For Now from emcee Kristoff Krane contained many great things which add up to an eagerly anticipated follow-up: astute social commentary, heartbreaking narratives, compellingly varied music, and, of course, hot rhymes. And while the rapper is known for his introspective side, that doesn't quite mean that he'll rest on his laurels, or spend a lot of time contemplating his next move. Krane's got too many projects for that.

In a blog post on MySpace from Sunday, Krane announced that he'll be releasing a New EP in late April or early May through iTunes. The EP is titled Picking Flowers Next to RoadKill (how's that for an evocative image?), and you can hear the title track now over at Krane's MySpace Page.

Head over there to read updates on Krane's Abzorbr project, which also will see a digital release in the late Spring, as well as for some personal reflection from the emcee.

Kristoff Krane MySpace Page

(Jon Graef)

Big Quarters Drop New Album on May 5th

Anyone who's ever gone over to the Big Quarters blog, either to watch videos of producer Medium Zach tango with Doomtree's Lazerbeak, or perhaps to gleam a bit of what the band is working on each month with its Big Quarters Direct series, knows what "From the Home of Brown Babies and White Mothers" means. After all, it's the title of the blog itself.

It's also the name of the hip-hop duo's second album, one that will drop on May 5th. The record is available for pre-order now, if you head over to the twosome's blog. Pre-orders of From the Home of Brown Babies & White Mothers will include: a Brown Babies sticker, personalized poster and free month of BQDirect. But here's the sweetest deal of all: those of you who've been subscribing to BQDirect all this time? You get White Mothers for free. That's right. You don't have to worry about buying the cash cow, as BQ's not one to diss their fans for free.

Check out the promo video at the top of the post. Pre-order album number two here.

Big Quarters MySpace Page

Hyder Ali Engage in "Careless Talk" on New EP

Early last month, up-and-coming post-hop quartet Hyder Ali announced that they'd sent their latest EP, titled Careless Talk, off to the pressing plant and that listeners would have to wait to get more information about the proper release of said EP. Wait no more.

In a post on their MySpace Blog, the band not only announced a listening party for Talk, which is set to take place at the Nomad World Pub on March 7th, but also a CD release party on March 20th at the Turf Club.

The Nomad show is FREE and starts at 5:00 p.m. Listeners will have the opportunity to preview the EP, win tickets to the CD release show at the Turf, and perhaps even win some free CDs.

Should you not win free tickets, don't worry too much. The show on the 20th will only set you back $6 bucks. Buy your tickets here for the 21+ gig.

Supporting Hyder Ali are: Mel Gibson and the Pants, Kristoff Krane, and El Guante.

Hyder Ali MySpace Page

Casiotone For The Painfully Alone Apparently Has Some Olaf Memories?

Download: Casiotone For The Painfully Alone - "Old Panda Days"

Chicago-based bedroom synth-pop artist Casiotone For The Painfully Alone has announced the details of his new new album, an effort that's the follow-up to his 2006 effort Etiquette. Vs. Children is due out on April 7th on Tomcat records. Peep that tracklisting here:

1. Casiotone for the Painfully Alone vs. Children
2. Tom Justice, The Choir Boy Robber, Apprehended at Ace Hardware in Libertyville, IL
3. Optimist vs. The Silent Alarm (When The Saints Go Marching In)
4. Natural Light
5. Traveling Salesman's Young Wife Home Alone on Christmas in Montpelier, VT
6. Man O' War
7. Northfield, MN
8. Killers
9. Harsh The Herald Angels Sing
10. You Were Alone
11. White Jetta

The reason that "new" is written twice is because, in addition to Vs. Children, which is entirely new material, he's got a singles and rarities collection titled Advance Base Battery Life. That record is coming out on March 10th. The tracklisting is below:

1. Old Panda Days (w/ Nick Krgovich)
2. Lesley Gore on the T.A.M.I. Show (version)
3. White Corolla
4. White on White
5. Holly Hobby
6. Lonesome New Mexican Nights
7. The Only Way To Cry
8. It's A Crime
9. Missoula
10. Hot Boyz (w/ Dear Nora)
11. Born in the U.S.A. (w/ Concern)
12. Streets of Philadelphia (w/ Concern)
13. Graceland
14. Sunday St
15. Voice of the Hospital

You can listen to "Old Panda Days" at the top of the post. While you're up there, notice that the track 7 from Vs. Children has a title that should raise an eyebrow or two from people in the MN area. The track's titled "Northfield, MN,"
presumably named after the town of Cows, Colleges (St. Olaf, Ian's and my alma matter, and Carleton, home of Tapes N Tapes and Paul Wellstone...dammit), and Contentment.

So do you think? Did CFTPA get his heart broken for an Ole or a Carl? Or maybe he traveled 400 miles and change just to get some of Basil's incredible gyro pizza, then wrote a song about it? At any rate, check it all out at the top of the post.

CFTPA MySpace Page

Cross-published on CIMI

P.O.S' Never Better Streaming in Full on MySpace

While there may be some who'll wait in line at midnight to get their hands on a copy of the new album from MPLS rapper P.O.S, those who are a little more technologically inclined can listen to the entire thing at the P.O.S. MySpace Page. Never Better is out tomorrow. What do you think of the record? We likes it, for the most part. There are a few missteps, but all in all, it's some solid stuff. Favorite track = "Purexed".

Watch the video for leaked single "Drumroll" at the top of the post, and download some tracks below:

Download: POS - "Goodbye"
Download: POS - "I Made It From Scratch"
Download: POS - "POS Is Ruining My Life"

POS MySpace Page

New Military Special - "Factory Floors"

Download: Military Special - "Factory Floors"

Military Special caused quite the splash when the Minneapolis-based electro-pop-punk dropped their self-titled debut EP, and, based upon a post from the band's Tumblr yesterday, it only seems that 2009 will bring more fortune and acclaim to the band. The group announced yesterday that their debut LP, Civil Union, will be released on March 3rd. Furthermore, the band has released a single, "Factory Floors."

At the cross-centers of the Moog New Wave of ELO and the upright brit-pop of Kaiser Chiefs (with a little of The Rapture's new millennial dance-punk thrown in for some rhythmical force), "Factory Floors" captures an energy heard at the beginning of this decade, but does so well. Listen to the song at the top of the post.

Here's the tracklisting for Civil Union

1. Casual
2. Fall Back!
3. Trust
4. Say What You Want
5. The Falls
6. Factory Floors
7. Live Forever
8. 1971
9. City Lights
10. We’re Science

Stream the entire album right here.

Military Special MySpace Page

Fifth Element to sell POS album at midnight

From the POS MySpace bulletin:

Monday night, Feb.
2nd, Fifth Element will open at 12 midnight to begin selling the new POS album, Never Better. The album will be specially priced and includes the limited edition interchangeable artwork panels! Come down to meet POS, get your album signed, and receive FREE bonus items including Meet Tape Vol.2, and the Fifth Element exclusive bonus artwork panel complimenting the rest of the limited packaging.
Get here early, supplies are limited!

Halloween, Alaska to drink "Champagne Downtown" on new album

When last we heard from the confusingly-named Halloween, Alaska (I'm more partial to Easter, Kansas), they'd announce that their third album, which they were in the midst of recording some scant months ago, had a release date of April 7th, 2009.

That much hasn't changed, but now we've been able to get something else that's a little bit more valuable: an album title. Halloween, Alaska's third album is called Champagne Downtown, and, according to the press release, the record promises to "straddle the boundary between the electronic and the organic to create a novel rethink of what pop music can mean in a new millennium."

The release also makes mention of songs called "In Order" and "Gone With The Wind". Should either of those be released as a single (hint hint), we'll let you know about it. In the meantime, check out past material here.

Vampire Hands Announce Two New Records

A single sentence over at the group's MySpace blog informs us listeners that the psych-pop quartet Vampire Hands are in the studio recording not one, but two new records. They're currently recording them at the band's studio, Friendship Road. And that's pretty much it, aside from a series of live dates at the end of November. The two new albums will be the follow-ups to this year's excellent Me and You and The Cherry Red.

Vampire Hands MySpace Page

Mogwai's New Album Cover Features an Image Which Would Give Stephen Colbert a Massive Boner (Also: New Album and Tour Info)

Apropos of Scottish Post-Rockers Mogwai's newly announced LP, the title of which is The Hawk is Howling, the cover art of said album features...the American eagle. Which, as you know, is an eagle and not a hawk.

But while the image above certainly is effective at combining majesty and menace, will Mogwai listeners find it as beautiful and awe-inspiring as Steagle Cobeagle the Eagle? Furthermore, what kind of music would Colbeagle be into? I'd imagine that Steagle would go more for the patriotic songcraft of Toby Keith or John Mellencamp rather than the atmospheric, textural brand of crescendo-rock for which the post-rock progenitors are known. Still, that bird up there is a thing of patriotic boner-inducement, no?

What's even more boner-inducing (and, yes, I count girl-boners as well) is the fact Howling features guest vocals from psychedelic-rock legend and 13th Floor Elevator rider Roky Erikson. Which can only mean one thing: Post-rock plus Psych-rock = The Hawk is Howling will sound really good when you're shredding your tax-forms and smoking hashish. I'm looking at you, Willie Nelson.

In more awesome news, the band announced a tour supporting Howling with P4K-approved Fuck Buttons. Mogwai and FB will be playing together in MPLS on the 27th of September. The rest of the dates are below:

3-Portland, OR @ Music Fest NW (Mogwai headlining ; also appearing Del The Funkee Homosapien, Steel Pole Bathtub, Polvo, Jaguar Love and many more)
4-Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo
5-Victoria, BC @ Element
6-Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom
8-San Francisco, CA @ The Grand Ballroom
9-Los Angeles, CA @ Wiltern Theatre
10-Tucson, AZ @ The Rialto
12-Austin, TX @ Stubb’s
13-Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
15-Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
16-Richmond, VA @ The National
17-Washington DC @ 9:30 Club
18-New York, NY @ Terminal 5
19-Philadelphia, PA @ Starlight Ballroom
21-Monticello, NY @ ATP Festival
22-Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre
23-Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
24-Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
25-Pontiac, MI @ The Crofoot
26-Chicago, IL @ Congress Theater
27-Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue

The Hawk is Howling is out on September 23.

Mogwai MySpace Page
Fuck Buttons MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

New Baby Guts - "Drag" (Plus: New Album Info)

Download: Baby Guts - "Staplegun"
Download: Baby Guts - "Drag"

MPLS punk trio Baby Guts make the kind of music that is so filled with glorious, righteous anger that it just might put the fear of God into you. Since that anger comes with a fuzzed-out guitar and banshee howl vocals, the group has earned a lot of comparisons to (riot)girl groups such as Hole, Bikini Kill, and Call The Doctor-era Sleater-Kinney. Those frames of reference still apply to "Drag", the new single from the trio's upcoming record The Kissing Disease, the release date of which, May 29th was announced through the group's website a couple weeks back. We're quite excited. Here's the tracklisting of the record:

1. Badmouth
2.Tiny Cuts
3. Shark Teeth
4. Asbestos/Esophagus
5. Firetruck Vagina
6. Tarantula
7. Rum & Coke
8. Bedsheets
9. Hamster Bite
10. Dispelled
11. Meat + Gesture
12. Medusa, Stomach Acid, Brain Cancer
13. Drag
14. Cricket Lung

I, for one, am highly curious as to what a "Firetruck Vagina" entails. We will find out soon enough, though. As stated before, The Kissing Disease comes out May 29th via Guilt Ridden Pop

Baby Guts MySpace Page

(Jonathan Graef)

Deerhunter To Break Hiatus By Debuting New Record In Its Entirety

Download: Atlas Sound - "Unchained Melody" (Righteous Brothers Cover)
Download: Deerhunter - "Heatherwood"
Download: Deerhunter - "Spring Hall Convert"

Even though Atlanta-based experimental, psychedelic soundscapers Deerhunter proclaimed themselves as being on hiatus, we'd all knew that they'd come back to the live music farm eventually. After all, they've got that ATP VS. P4K gig coming up, and it's not like fans of the ambient-punk group have been suffering for content lately. However, the recent news broken by Bradford Cox himself on the Deerhunter blog that the Atlas Sound show in Brooklyn "will actually be a Deerhunter show" still should come as a surprise. Not only will the quintet be playing their first show in quite some time, but they will also be taking the opportunity to play their new album, Microcastle, in its entirety.

From the Deerhunter blog:

(Deerhunter is) playing the new album "Microcastle" we have recorded with Nicolas Vernhes at the amazing Rare Book Room here in Brooklyn in its entirety. The reason we did not announce it as such is that a.) it was originally intended to be just an atlas sound show, but we have had such a great time recording with each other and rehearsing in the studio that we thought it would be fun to try and pull off an impromptu show with borrowed equipment. and b.) we weren't sure it would work out at first...I don't know much about the details but I'd encourage people to just chill and try and come out and have fun with us. Hope those who are interested will come check out the new songs, they are a lot different and we've been working really hard and having a great time. Respect to all.

Bradford

Read the rest of the post here and listen to one Deerhunter MP3 and one Atlas Sound MP3 at the top of the post.

Deerhunter 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)