US / THEM: October 2010

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Mr. Gnome announces fall U.S. tour, wild short film for "Vampires" track, completing new album recorded at Josh Homme's studio

"Even better than their last album, which I loved. Sounds like ethereal icelandic fairies being pummeled by concrete guitars in a dirty Cleveland parking lot. AKA: awesome." 'Eight Criminally Underrated Albums of 2009' -- Paste Magazine

"The Rollicking 'Plastic Shadow' is a rust bucket rocker that Cat Power should have recorded, and 'Pixie Dust' glitters like some lost 4AD band from 1988: light as a feather, but heavy enough to weaken the knees, much like the album as a whole." -- Bust Magazine

"The awesome rush of sound that comes out of Nicole Barile's lungs and guitar and Sam Meister's drums seems much bigger and more powerful than anything two people are capable of. Mr. Gnome don't really sound like anyone else, and their ghost-ridden songs only make sense with a dreamtime logic." -- LA Weekly

The Cleveland duo with a rapifly growing cult following among musicians, critics and fans alike, Mr. Gnome announces fall 2010 U.S. tour dates beginning in November. The band is currently putting finishing touches on a new album -- once again recorded at Josh Homme's (QOTSA, Them Crooked Vultures) Pink Duck Studios in Los Angeles -- where Mr. Gnome also recorded its recent album, Heave Yer Skeleton.

Just in time for Halloween, the duo will soon release an extended video for the song "Vampires" (more like a complete short narrative film, really.) Check out the trailer for the film HERE.

Check out an MP3 for the lead track, "Three Red Birds" from the recent Tastes Like Magic EP HERE. The band has also released a third song from its latest full-length, Heave Yer Skeleton -- the swooning "Plastic Shadow" is available HERE.

Chan "Cat Power" Marshall fronting Queens of the Stone Age? Karen O leading Death From Above 1979? Cleveland duo Mr. Gnome has been given many unusual comparisons, all of which seem to indicate the band's spectacularly unique sound. And, while none seem to fully capture the band's loftily heavy-beautiful music, Mr. Gnome continues to captivate and inspire writers and audiences alike. The band's stunning performance video for "Spain" is a perfect example. Watch HERE.

Upon completing recording their latest album in Los Angeles, the endlessly touring pair of guitarist/vocalist Nicole Barile and drummer/vocalist Sam Meister mixed the tracks with Beau Sorenson (Death Cab For Cutie, Sparklehorse, The Secret Machines, Garbage, Tegan and Sara). The album is slated for release in 2011.

Mr. Gnome on tour:

11/03 Rochester NY @ Bug Jar

11/04 Pittsburgh PA @ Lava Lounge

11/05 Brooklyn NY @ Union Pool

11/06 Taunton MA @ Steve's Backstage Pass

11/10 Toledo OH @ Woodchucks

11/11 Indianapolis IN @ Radio Radio

11/12 Chicago IL @ The Hideout

11/13 Madison WI @ The Frequency

11/15 Kansas City MO @ Riot Room

11/16 Denver CO @ Hi-Dive

11/17 Salt Lake City UT @ Burt's Tiki Lounge

11/19 Portland OR @ Mississippi Studios

11/20 Seattle WA @ The Sunset Tavern

11/23 San Francisco CA @ Elbo Room

11/24 Los Angeles CA @ Silverlake Lounge

11/26 Tucson AZ @ Plush

11/27 Albuquerque NM @ The Launchpad

11/29 Tulsa OK @ Soundpony

11/30 Springfield MO @ The Outland

12/02 Dallas TX @ Double Wide

12/04 San Antonio TX @ Lone Star Studios

12/06 Pensacola FL @ Handleba

12/08 Atlanta GA @ Drunken Unicorn

12/09 Nashville TN @ The End

12/10 St Louis MO @ The Firebird

12/18 Cleveland OH @ Beachland Ballroom

Artist: Mr. Gnome

Release: Tastes Like Magic EP

Label: El Marko Records

Release Date: March 16th, 2010

01. Devil Be Gone

02. Three Red Birds (MP3)

Artist: Mr. Gnome

Album: Heave Yer Skeleton

Label: El Marko Records

Release Date: November 10th, 2009

1. Spain (VIDEO)

2. Hills, Valleys and Valium

3. Slow Side (MP3)

4. Plastic Shadow (MP3)

5. Sit Up and Hum

6. Titor

7. Vampires (MP3)

8. Cleveland Polka

9. Pixie Dust

10. Today Brings a Bomb

11. Searider

12. Heave Yer Skeleton

On the Web:

www.mrgnome.com

www.myspace.com/mrgnome

www.mr-gnome.blogspot.com

Mr. Gnome are available for interviews. For more information, contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Stereogum premieres video from Julie Christmas' upcoming solo debut, Made Out of Babies singer branches out

Click image above to watch video

"Metal's most riveting frontwoman...a smart, eccentric post-kid just becoming aware of the unearthly power she wields." -- Decibel Magazine

"Julie Christmas sings, screams, snarls and sobs her heart out with terrifying naked abandon." -- Revolver

Brooklyn singer Julie Christmas releases her first solo record, The Bad Wife, next month. Today, Stereogum posted the exclusive premiere of the first video from the album, for the song "Bow." Directed by James OBrien, Pastor Alvarado and Genn Long, the fairytale style clip sees the singer being pursued through the woods by a lanky, furry beast.

Often celebrated for her intense vocal acrobatics in heavy-hitting bands like Made Out of Babies, Battle of Mice and the supergroup Spylacopa (featuring members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, Candiria and Isis), Christmas' solo debut finds her pushing the range of her already iconoclastic genre-melding work. Ahead of the album's release, the song "July 31st" is featured on the soundtrack for the Paramount movie, Wrong Turn at Tahoe, starring Harvey Keitel and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Check out the tracks "July 31st" (HERE) and "Bow" (HERE) from The Bad Wife. Fans can also listen and buy songs or pre-order the deluxe LP edition and CD via Bandcamp.

Of late, Christmas has been busy expanding her repertoire. She currently is collaborating with Nix Turner, renowned illustrator of worldwide counterculture icon, Emily the Strange, to create a book titled The Scribbles and Scrapes of Amy Anyone: (A Multiple Personality Autobiography). Christmas wrote the story and is working on music for the release of an accompanying CD, featuring a tone signaling the reader to turn the page.

In addition, the singer recently worked on the soundtrack for a French indie film "Le Debut," in which a young couple resorts to infanticide when faced with the challenges of poverty, depression and parenthood. "I use sounds to express feelings and ideas that I am too clumsy to get across with words alone," the singer explains. "Working with amazing visual artists - people who speak in images - gets me one step closer to really communicating with anyone nuts enough to listen."

Christmas's band, Made Out of Babies, is currently writing their fourth full-length album, scheduled to be released in the spring of 2011. Live shows and exhibitions with visual artists are being arranged. A video to promote the album is in production.

The Bad Wife will be available on CD/LP and digital download via Rising Pulse Records on November 9th, 2010.

Artist: Julie Christmas

Album Title: The Bad Wife

Label: Rising Pulse Records

Release Date: November 9th, 2010

Track List:

01. July 31st (MP3)

02. If You Go Away

03. Bow (MP3) (VIDEO)

04. Secrets All Men Keep (Salt Bridge, Part II)

05. Six Pairs of Feet and One Pair of Legs

06. Headless Hawks

07. The Wigmaker's Widow

08. I Just Destroyed the World

09. When Everything is Green

Hi-res photos, cover art, bio and more:

http://www.risingpulse.com/juliechristmas.html

On the Web:
juliechristmas.bandcamp.com

http://myspace.com/juliechristmas

http://www.risingpulse.com

Julie Christmas is available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com

Monday, October 18, 2010

Zach Hill releases solo album this week, featuring impressive guests (including Devendra Banhart, No Age, members of Prefuse 73, Deerhoof, Tera Melos)

Massively talented and incessantly collaborative drummer Zach Hill (see a semi-comprehensive list of projects here) releases his second solo album, Face Tat this week via Sargent House.

The 13-track album features an impressive list of contributors, including Devendra Banhart, No Age (Dean Spunt and Randy Randall), Guillermo Scott Herren (Prefuse 73), Greg Saunier (Deerhoof), Carson McWhirter (Hella), Nick Reinhart (Tera Melos, Bygones) and Robby Moncrieff (Raleigh Moncrieff). Fans can listen to the entire album via AOL Spinner all this week.

Pitchfork recently posted the video for "The Primitives Talk" (also posted on YouTube). The mind-searing video was directed by visual artist Steph Davidson. Another video was previously released, "The Sacto Smile", featuring the girl from the album cover art on a violent rampage.

Face Tat is available everywhere on October 19th, 2010 via Sargent House.

Artist: Zach Hill

Album Title: Face Tat
Label: Sargent House
Release date: October 19th, 2010
Track List:
01. Memo To the Man (MP3)
02. The Primitives Talk (MP3) (VIDEO) (YouTube)
03. Ex-Ravers
04. The Sacto Smile (VIDEO)
05. Green Bricks (VIDEO)
06. House of Hits
07. Jackers
08. Burner In the Video
09. Dizzy From the Twins
10. Gross Sales
11. Total Recall
12. Face Tat
13. Second Life

On the Web:
zachhill1.tumblr.com
myspace.com/zachhillmusic
http://bygonesband.tumblr.com/

Zach HIll is available for interviews. For more information, please contact Dave Clifford at dave@usthemgroup.com

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Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Gypsyblood release free EP, announce debut album on Sargent House

Chicago hazy-pop band Gypsyblood has released a free 3-song EP for download in anticipation of the group's forthcoming debut album via Sargent House in early 2011. Many musicians and other lucky few who have heard the band have succinctly remarked, "my new favorite band."

The sound of Gypsyblood is somewhat like hearing an old familiar song playing at high volume in a distant room, the melody smudged within the walls, making it impossible to discern the exact tune. It's like watching old home movies in a hazy, distorted soft focus. There's a rare, comforting timelessness to the Chicago quintet's distortion-ravaged and hook-laden tunes on its forthcoming debut album, Cold in the Guestway.

Gypsyblood's songs tend to start dissent among listeners trying to describe exactly of what their songs are reminiscent. Some common references include a strange amalgam of Pavement's early hazy-pop singles, The Jesus and The Mary Chain, kiwi popsters The Clean, The Fall, early Guided By Voices, The Flaming Stars, Best Coast, et al. Put simply, it's a noisy, soft-focus approach to classic pop.

"Everything revolves around that feeling of restless old souls, a timeless aspect to the music," explains vocalist/guitarist Adam James. "We've all been on this planet -- whether we were in a past life, or whatever. We've all been singing these same notes for decades and now it's finally getting out to people's ears. It's something that comes from deep down within. It's unique to anyone who understands it."

Gypsyblood formed in 2009 when longtime friends and former bandmates James and vocalist/drummer/bassist Kyle Victor healed the somewhat fresh wounds of their previous band's breakup (initiated by Victor storming off stage after the last song and hitchhiking home.) The pair later made up and James invited Victor to hear demos of new songs he was working on. Gypsyblood was born shortly thereafter and the pair quickly wrote an impressive 50 songs together within two months.

Of those 50 initial songs, the pair recorded 30 tracks working on their own in the dead of Chicago winter in an old building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. The songs were captured on equipment normally used for film audio recording. Faint sounds of the band's bustling neighborhood outside can be heard at times throughout. There's a distinctly haunted, living presence to both the recording and the songwriting of Cold In the Guestway that cannot be replicated in a sterile studio environment.

The name Gypsyblood itself fits nicely with the group's aesthetic: the eternally restless gypsy spirit and the visceral music running through the veins of successive generations."It's post-consumerist pop music," James suggests. It's timeless and undeniably powerful.

Cold in the Guestway will be available everywhere in early 2011 via Sargent House.

Gypsyblood live:

11/12 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall (w/ Fang Island, Delicate Steve)

Artist: Gypsyblood

Album: Gypsyblood EP

Label: Sargent House

Release Date: October 13th, 2010

1. Take Your Picture (MP3)

2. 2-4-6 Inthedark (MP3)

3. Endless Summer (MP3)

On the Web:

http://gypsyblood1.tumblr.com

http://gypsyblood.bandcamp.com

Monday, October 4, 2010

Fops (members of Thee More Shallows, Ral Partha Vogelbacher) release first video from album debut

Click image above to watch video

Fops, the new duo featuring Thee More Shallows singer Dee Kesler and Ral Partha Vogelbacher lyricist Chadwick Donald Bidwell have released the first video from their album debut, Yeth, Yeth, Yeth. The video for the song "Yellow Jacket Corpse" can be viewed HERE (cleared for posting.)

In the short time that Fops has been a band, they've already completed two full length albums. The first CD/LP, Yeth, Yeth, Yeth was released worldwide on September 27th via UK label Monotreme Records (65Daysofstatic, Nedry, Barzin). A second disc, Priests In Them Caves will follow in early 2011 on the same label.

Check out MP3s from the album, "Solid Copper Huntress" (HERE) and "Maple Mountain" (HERE).

Taking their musical cues from the syncopated electronic figures of Krautrockers such as Cluster and Faust, and the propulsive, brooding pop of the bands they grew up listening to in the 80’s, the duo recorded two albums nearly at once.

Both LPs are novels at heart, investigating the possible and impossible, gaudy and fantastical, mundane and downright depressing pasts and futures of a single protagonist. In the world of Fops, Kesler is the narrator, telling stories in Bidwell’s singular lyrical style.

The vinyl format comes on 180 gm audiophile vinyl and includes a free promo CD of the album.