Sharon Van Etten to Play Jools Holland, Shares New Spotify Playlist

Here’s some exciting news for your Wednesday! Currently on the European leg of her year-long tour, Sharon Van Etten has confirmed she will in fact perform live on BBC’s flagship music program, Later with Jools Holland. The show will take place on October 9 and 12! During those dates, Sharon will also play shows in both Cambridge and Sheffield. You can see her full list of tour dates, including those with Damien Jurado, HERE.

Sharon recently collaborated with the great Rufus Wainwright on a cover of Frank Loesser’s “Baby It’s Cold Outside.” Be on the look out for more details regarding the forthcoming Christmas compilation. In the meantime, keep yourself busy with Sharon’s new Spotify playlist, Tunes of Nostalgia. She includes an awesome run-down on why she included each song! See both both below! Read the rest of this entry »

SUNSET RUBDOWN’s First Tour Ever Of The UK And Europe Starts May 14, And Other News

To the delight of eager SUNSET RUBDOWN fans throughout the Europe, continental and otherwise, the magical Montreal rock band will finally tour many lands to the east of the Atlantic, including the Netherlands, Great Britain, Ireland, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, France, Spain and Portugal. They will be touring in support of “Random Spirit Lover”, their full-length opus which came out in October of 2007 and garnered rave reviews, including Pitchfork’s prestigious “Best New Music” distinction. For a list of comprehensive tour dates, click HERE.

Many shows have already sold out, well in advance, including their London show at Luminaire. Some of the other highlights of the European tour include a performance at the Explosions in the Sky-curated All Tomorrow’s Parties and an appearance at the Great Escape festival in Brighton. There is also some talk of Sunset Rubdown doing a Black Cab Session (http://www.blackcabsessions.com/) while in London featuring a new song, but all good things to those who wait, we suppose.

In other Sunset Rubdown-related news, Sunset Rubdown will be contributing to David Horvitz’s 7-inch Picture Disc Series, released through Brooklyn’s Aagoo Records. The tentative timefame for the Sunset Rubdown 7-inch is November. For more information on how to subscribe, please go here: http://dhpd.bigcartel.com/

David Horvitz also was the friend and mastermind behind the recent Sunset Rubdown polaroid series, where Sunset Rubdown fans all sent blank polaroid film and a self-addressed envelope to David, who then returned candid shots of the band back to the fans. Here are some of the photos that fans received (scanned and then posted):

Sunset Rubdown Polaroids/Pitchfork
Sunset Rubdown Polaroids/Snakes Got A Blog I
Sunset Rubdown Polaorids/Snakes Got A Blog II

BLACK MOUNTAIN return to the UK and Europe, perform at ATP

It’s been nearly three years since Canadian quintet Black Mountain’s eponymous debut – “a modern heavy psych masterpiece”, according to Mojo magazine. Fans included The Flaming Lips, J Mascis and Mudhoney, the latter inviting British Columbia’s finest to join them at All Tomorrow’s Parties in April 2006; Black Mountain will return to the festival in December 2007 at the invitation of Nightmare Before Christmas curators Portishead.

Immediately preceding their 2007 ATP appearance, Black Mountain will be performing throughout Europe and the UK (see tour dates below). They will be performing many songs from their upcoming second full-length called “In The Future”, which comes out on CD, LP, and as a limited edition double CD on Jagjaguwar on January 21, 2008. If, as Plan B magazine noted of the first LP, “Every song could be an album to itself, by a band with lesser ideas and the ability to express them”, then “In The Future” sees those distinctive individual strands woven into a seamless studio tapestry that’s a quantum leap, both sonically and compositionally, from its predecessor.

Stay tuned for additional Black Mountain announcements regarding extensive touring throughout 2008, as plans are in the works to hit up every nook and cranny of this wondrous globe. For those who can’t wait to experience some live Black Mountain, check out their live performance at Pop Montreal that happened in October, courtesy of CBC Radio:
http://radio3.cbc.ca/concerts/Black-Mountain-2007-10-06/

BLACK MOUNTAIN tour-dates (http://www.jagjaguwar.com/shows.php):

11/16/07 Barcelona, Spain – Sala Apollo
11/17/07 Mallorca, Spain – Sa Pobla
11/19/07 Cesena, Italy – Officina49
11/20/07 Zurich, Switzerland – Rote Fabrik
11/21/07 Vienna, Austria – Flex
11/22/07 Prague, Czech Republic – Klub 007, Strahov
11/23/07 Dresden, Germany – Star Club
11/24/07 Berlin, Germany – Festsaal Kreuzberg
11/25/07 Hamburg, Germany – Uebel & Gefahrlich
11/26/07 Aarhus, Denmark – Voxhall
11/27/07 Oslo, Norway – Garage
11/28/07 Stockholm, Sweden – Kagelbanan
11/29/07 Malmo, Sweden – Debaser
11/30/07 Groningen, Netherlands – Vera
12/01/07 Utrecht, Netherlands – Tivoli
12/02/07 Antwerp, Belgium – Trix
12/03/07 Paris, France – La Maroquinerie
12/05/07 London, UK – Cargo
12/06/07 Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms
12/07/07 Minehead, UK – All Tomorrow’s Parties