The self-proclaimed ‘Sonic Explorer’ known only to you as Matthew Herbert (or if you are hip as shit, his bazillion stage names like Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo and Transformer) will release his new album, There’s Me and There’s You on October 28th of this year. The acclaimed producer and collaborator, who has worked in the past with the likes of Bjork, REM and Yoko Ono, is looking to make his own mark on the music scene on the other side of the glass. Set to drop this fall, Herbert’s new album is the second project using his big band and follow-up to his 2001 release Goodbye Swingtime.  The new album is reportedly a fusion of jazz, vocals, and some remarkably oblique samples. Overall, Herbert’s record is an ambitious opus that attempts to comment on social and political topics through his unique musical attributes.

Tracklisting:

01 The Story
02 Pontificate
03 Waiting
04 The Yesness
05 Battery
06 Regina
07 The Rich Man’s Prayer
08 Breathe
09 Knowing
10 Nonsound
11 One Life
12 Just Swing

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Sam Sparro is the bastard child of dance funk. Conceived one sultry night betwixt the loins of Cameo and Rick Astley, Sparro emerges as a pop culture tour de force. Or at least, a potential tour de force. It’s clear he wants to take the low-brow of music and make it…well, “fun”-brow. Just take a look at the video for ’21st Century Life’. Amidst the tacky coloration and 1980s animation filters is Sparro, dancing like the lazy member of a boy band and blatantly singing about the furious pace of our modern lives. It’s quite an aesthetic paradox, but the campy visuals mixed with Sparro’s light social commentary makes for something to be seen and heard.

video: Sam Sparro ’21st Century Life’
from Black & Gold

The Sydney-born funk-atuer has music in his blood. He comes from a family line that includes a grandfather who played trumpet for Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. in their heyday. Now, that is a grandfather you’d actually -want- to spend time with! Black & Gold is Sparro’s debut which employs all the hallmarks of a funkadelic experience. Liquid bass slithers, misty analog synthesizers, and splash slapping drums. And all in a decidedly retro function.

Sammy-boy was slated to hit the States this month, however, the tour have been postponed until September. If you’re in the mood for funk and you’re in the mood for cheese, then get going to see Sam Sparro as he croons his way around the country.

Sparro Song & Dance Tour:

09-08 El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
09-09 The Independent - San Francisco, CA
09-10 Neumo’s - Seattle, WA
09-12 The Mod Club - Toronto, ON
09-13 Subterrenean - Chicago, IL
09-14 Paradise - Boston, MA
09-16 LPR - New York, NY
09-17 Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn, NY

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Those Land of Talk folks sure are busy. Soon after finding a home at Nebraska’s Saddle Creek Records, the Montreal trio is joining up with fellow Canadians Broken Social Scene for a fall North American tour. Even more good news, for you BSS fans who have been lamenting the lack of female vocals in Broken Social Scene’s live sets, Land of Talk lead singer Elizabeth Powell will be joining the band onstage throughout their set to satisfy that lady-voice thirst. Since Powell also contributed vocals on Broken Social Scene Presents: Brendan Canning, Something for All of Us, and the band’s score for the film The Tracey Fragments, performing together onstage will probably be a snap.The band starts its run with Broken Social Scene on October 8th, the day after it’s full length debut, Some Are Lakes, is unleashed on the American public courtesy of Saddle Creek Records. Before that though, They’ve got a whole slew of Canadian dates, after which the big Canadian BSS/LoT monster lumbers across these here United States.

Land of Talk-Talk-Talk Tour:

08-09 Wolf Island Festival - Wolf Island,ON
09-11 Mercury Lounge - New York, NY
09-13 Envol & Macadam Festival - Quebec City, PQ+
09-18 Zaphod’s - Ottawa, ON
09-20 The Grad Club - Kingston, ON
09-22 CEJEP - Laval, PQ
09-23 Telephone Rouge - Sherbrooke, PQ
09-24 Montreal House - Peterborough, ON
09-25 E Bar - Guelph, ON
09-26 Casbah - Hamilton, ON
09-27 Sneaky Dee’s - Toronto, ON
10-08 Calvin College - Grand Rapids, MI*
10-11 Union Theatre Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, WI*
10-13 First Avenue - Minneapolis, MN*
10-14 Slowdown - Omaha, NE*
10-16 The Beaumont - Kansas City, MO*
10-17 The Blue Note - Columbia, MO*
10-18 The Gargoyle - St. Louis, MO*
10-19 Foellinger Auditorium/Univ. of Illinois - Urbana, IL*
10-21 Toad’s Place - Richmond, VA*
10-22 State Theatre - Falls Church*
10-24 Masonic Temple - Brooklyn, NY*
10-25 Bowdoin College - Brunswick, ME*
10-26 Wilburt Theatre - Boston, MA*

+ w/ Islands & Sebastian Grainger
* w/ Broken Social Scene

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Those beat-mongers from down under, Midnight Juggernauts, have got a lot of activity going on in their camp as of late. They’ve just recently cut a video for their album cut, ‘Into the Galaxy,’ and the same track is getting a release on a remix EP. The EP features remixes from the likes of hip hop icon Grandmaster Flash and fellow Aussies Architecture in Helsinki, and is primed to drop on August 12th via iTunes in the US. As if that wasn’t enough, they have a smattering of US dates on the west coast with HeartsRevolution for the fall. All I’m saying is, if Midnight Juggernauts opens up a franchise of some kind down the street from you, don’t be surprised.

Midnight Madness Tour:09-10 Vanguard - Los Angeles, CA +
09-11 Beauty Bar - Austin, TX +
09-12 1015 Folsom - San Francisco, CA *
09-17 Ottobar - Baltimore, MD +
+ with HeartsRevolution
* with Digitalism (DJ Set) and Juan Mclean

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This past June, R&B singer and civil rights activist Mavis Staples performed at a sold out show at Chicago’s The Hideout. Staples picked thirteen selections from her fifty-two year career, spanning from before the civil rights movement to the present. Jealous you weren’t there to feel the musical prowess and legacy of Staples in the packed club? Lucky for you, the entire performance will be available for purchase as MAVIS STAPLES LIVE: Hope at the Hideout. The album has a November 4th (election day) release date, so you can blast Staples while you sit at home and watch history unfold.

Staples recently released the critically lauded album We’ll Never Turn Back - a mix of her classic civil rights Freedom Songs alongside some fiery new compositions co-written with album producer, Ry Cooder.

Tracklisting:

01 For What It’s Worth
02 Eyes on the Prize
03 Down in Mississippi
04 Wade in the Water
05 Waiting For My Child
06 This Little Light
07 Why Am I Treated So Bad
08 Freedom Highway
09 We Shall Not Be Moved
10 Circle Intro
11 Will The Circle Be Unbroken
12 On My Way
13 I’ll Take You There

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Mason Proper is a Michigan based quintuplet that defines prog-rock to a new generation of Art History majors. On the heels of there upcoming Sept. 2008 release of Olly Oxen Free the band has put together a video for ‘Rest Up’ a song found on their i-tunes only EP Shorthand.  In the opening shot we see the band enjoying themselves at a nice sit down meal. As the video progresses we catch a glimpse of each members obsessive-compulsive tableside manners and the whole things slowly spirals into a dysfunctional David Lynchesque band dinner. Although, the video is not an instructional how-to-eat with your band mates –it does have a creepy Death Cab For Cutie quality to it. Watch and pray these Ann Arbor natives don’t ask to eat supper with your sister.

video: Mason Proper ‘Rest Up’

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Starting September 25th, a Mr. Ben Kweller is going to be trekking to a town near you in order to promote his fourth LP, Changing Horses. Horses, tentatively due in January 2009, is still pretty shrouded in mystery but we’re are sure to hear more Ben Folds esq sing alongs from the young lad. But if you can’t wait until then for your Kweller fix, just catch one of these dates.

Put The Horse Down Tour:

09-25 Pontiac Garage at House of Blues - Dallas, TX
09-26 Walters On Washington-Houston, TX
09-27 University of Oklahoma - Oklahoma City, OK
09-30 Club Congress - Tucson, AZ
10-01 The Glass House - Pomona, CA
10-02 Troubadour - West Hollywood, CA
10-04 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Fest at Golden Gate Park - San Francisco, CA
10-06 W.O.W Hall - Eugene, OR
10-07 Chop Suey - Seattle, WA
10-10 Bluebird Theater - Denver, CO
10-11 Slowdown - Omaha, NE
10-13  TBA - Minneapolis, MN
10-14 The Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL
10-16 Paradise Rock Club - Boston, MA
10-17 Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY
10-20 Johnny Brenda’s - Philadelphia, PA
10-21 Rock and Roll Hotel - Washington D.C
10-23 Mercy Lounge - Nashville, TN
10-24 The Earl - Atlanta, GA
10-25 WorkPlay Theater - Birmingham, AL
10-27 The Social - Orlando, FL
10-28 Crowbar - Ybor City, FL
10-29 Florida State University, Club Downunder - Tallahassee, FL
11-02 Antone’s - Austin, TX

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If you’re looking for the dreamy sleaze of 1980s glamor, then Lykke Li’s new video for ‘Breaking It Up’ should be riding high on your list of things to experience. Enlisting the aid of director Sarah Chatman (whose worked with the likes of Lily Allen, Noisettes and Yves Saint Laurent), Li explores the finer points of lounging amidst beautiful half naked bodies, shuffling and dancing when the mood strikes her, and of course the art of “sliding her arms dramatically over her face”. It’s misty, it’s decadent, and it’s randy.

video: Lykke Li ‘Breaking It Up’

That doesn’t mean that the Swedish indie pop songstress is all about blatant chic fluff. Li’s music has a playful minimal quality which belies her gaudy exterior. This is evident on her forth coming album Young Novels. Set to be released on August 19th in America, the album is Li’s first full-length release - an affair of pulse percussion, and snippets of rhythm and melody. Add to that Li’s understated vocal work and you’re in for an intriguing little piece of pop candy.

As it is generally the thing to do, Lykke Li will be touring in support of this new release. Check her out when she clicks and clacks her way to your neck of the woods. Could anything brighten your day more then a Swedish nymph swinging her hips, singing the words “dance, dance, dance”? No, didn’t think so. Go on, then, get to her show.

Lykke Likey Tour:

08-25 Los Angeles, CA - Hotel Café (Sold Out)
08-28 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge (Sold Out)
10-19 Washington, DC - Black Cat
10-23 Boston, MA - Paradise
10-24 Toronto, ON - Mod Club
10-25 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle
10-28 Vancouver, BC - Richards on Richards
10-29 Seattle, WA - Neumo’s
10-30 Portland, OR - Doug Fir
11-01 San Francisco, CA - Independent
11-03 Los Angeles, CA - El Rey

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Here in the midwest, if we’re lucky we’ve got another two months of warmth left before autumn smacks us in the face, but I can forgive Orange County’s Japanese Motors for their tactlessness here; after all, when your lead singer’s a professional surfer and you live in a perennial beach, then what else are you going to sing about besides sand and surf? Japanese Motors is going to drop the song as a single towards the middle of this month on Vice Records, in order to get us all primed up for their full length debut, due in October; just about when all of us midwesterners will start dreaming about next summer.

Check out the ‘Single Fins & Safety Pins’

stream: Japanese Motors ‘Single Fins & Safety Pins’

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It wouldn’t be a summer festival without controversy, blood, and anarchy. As the second day of Lollapalooza came to a close, there couldn’t have been a more stark contrast between the two main stages opposite field in Grant Park. On one end, hometown heroes Wilco played an ala nude suit wearing set that included ‘It’s Just That Simple’ and a dripping ‘Impossible Germany’ only matched by the closing frenzy of ‘Outtasite (Outta Mind)’. All was right in the world. On the converse, Zack de la Rocha with Tom Morello and their reunited Rage Against the Machine had to deal with shoddy security and a crowd taking advantage of such. When a C3 staffer decided to offset the proficiency of their hired security guards for the event, the crowd was able to rush to the stage. Depending on who you talk to, you get a slew of erroneous reenactments. The crowd, contrary to many reports, did not break down the barricades. The security did nothing to enrage an already raucous crowd only fueled by the anger of de la Rocha’s lyrical growls. It was simply a compound of events unfortunately. The band urged the fans to calm down or they would have to stop the set short.

But earlier performances that day lived up to their billed hype. Explosions in the Sky was an experience in the warm sun as the band seemingly reached for such with their crashing builds and careening guitar wails. Okkervil River led by Will Sheff had one of the strongest sing-a-longs we’ve ever witnessed by a fanbase making us fuzzy and affectionate all over. House beat underdogs Booka Shade made the overcrowded MGMT stage look like sheep as they strode through some of the most danceable hooks and beats blared.

Lupe Fiasco was tighter this year than in both his previous showings at Grant Park. With a fuller sound that included a rich drum line, the Chicago native and once Kanye West protégé opened with ‘Kick, Push’ and never looked back. Sporting a three-piece white suit, the boy looked like a man on stage backed by an impressive gospel choir.

Despite the inevitable controversy that will emerge from the nights closing moments, day two of the weekend event trumped much of the soggy heat of the first in both music and comfort. Twice as crowded but equally inspiring with its matched lineup, this was what fans of the storied event were waiting for.

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