Monthly Archives: March 2012
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Duran Duran has just released a full list of 2012 international and US tour dates. Check out the list below and see if they are coming to a city near you. Then, go to the comments section and let us know your favorite Duran Duran concert memory if you’ve had the pleasure of seeing them in the past.
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Sigor Ros has just announced the thrilling news that they are set to release a new album called Valtari on May 28th. Valteri translated to “steamroller” in English. They have reported that the album will be more electronic based, but still embrace their ever-so-dreamy sound that we have all come to love. Singer Jónsi has described the album as “an avalanche in slow motion”.
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The Depeche Mode lineage has been in the news quite a bit lately. Martin Gore has just released his collaboration with Vince Clark called VCMG. Dave Gahan has contributed vocals to the forthcoming Soulsavers album. With all of that going on, it’s good to step back and take a look at the influence Depeche Mode has played on many modern artists from Synthpop to Goth Rock to Industrial. Depeche Mode has paved the way for many of these bands and in turn, these bands have shown their love with their renditions of Mode classics. Not so much covers as they are tributes to the band that made it possible for them to make the music they do.
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Nadja is a Canadian duo featuring multi-instrumentalist Aidan Baker (guitars, vocals, woodwinds, piano, drum programming) and bassist/vocalist Leah Buckareff. Nadja was originally conceived in 2003 in Toronto, Canada as a solo project by Baker to explore the heavier/noisier side of his experimental/ambient guitar-based music. Buckareff later joined in 2005 to bring the project out of the studio and into live settings. Baker himself has released numerous albums on independent labels from around the world and is the author of two books of poetry, two poetry chapbooks, and has published poetry, fiction and criticism in various international and scholarly journals. Baker and Buckareff currently reside in Berlin.
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The Danish Indie Rock duo of Sune Rose Wagner and Sharin Foo are gearing up for a huge 2012. In 2011, they did no less than release their 5th LP, Raven In The Grave (which spawned 3 singles), launch a massive tour, appear on 3 Soundtracks and grace us with their first compilation, the 27-track career-spanning Rarities/B-Sides.
Although still early in 2012, they have announced a 4-song EP, Into The Night, which will be available on April 24. Following the EP, they will be recording their 6th full length record for release later this year. They have also announced a first set of dates in Denmark, Australia and Chicago. The Denmark dates will celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their debut, Whip It On, which they will perform in its entirety with original live members, Manoj Ramdas and Jakob Hoyer, and special guests like Glasvegas’ James Allan. The Australian dates will be co-headlined by The Brian Jonestown Massacre. Look for a full scale North American and European tour later this year as well.
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As previously reported, Depeche Mode frontman, Dave Gahan will be providing vocals on the forthcoming 4th album from Soulsavers. While the record, The Light The Dead See, will not be available until May 21st, we are excited to present audio of the first single, Longest Day.
Gahan had this to day about the recordings; “This music gave me the perfect palate to play with the BIG questions that we all ask when life becomes less about what can we GET, than: what can we DO? I’ve been very fortunate, and I’m privileged in my life, so I want to do things I feel really connected to now, otherwise there’s no point. Rich and I had both come out of something difficult. This is something to do with that. It was a wonderful experience”.
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The duo of Lisa Gerard and Brendan Perry, otherwise known as Dead Can Dance have announced a full scale North American Tour for late summer 2012. They have whet our appetites over the last several months by posted free downloads of live EPs, Live Happenings – Part 1-4.
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Spring is in the air and it’s almost time for a National Holiday for music lovers around the world. Record Store Day is April 21, 2012. This is the one day that all of the independently owned record stores come together with artists to celebrate the art of music. Special vinyl and CD releases and various promotional products are made exclusively for the day and hundreds of artists in the United States and in various countries across the globe make special appearances and performances. Festivities include performances, cook-outs, body painting, meet & greets with artists, parades, djs spinning records and on and on. Record Store Day is celebrated the third Saturday every April.
A Record Store Day participating store is defined as a retailer whose main primary business focuses on a physical store location, whose product line consists of at least 50% music retail, whose company is not publicly traded and whose ownership is at least 70% located in the state of operation. (In other words, we’re dealing with real, live, physical, indie record stores—not online retailers or corporate behemoths).
Some of the highlights this year include Soundtracks to Pretty In Pink, The Breakfast Club and Empire Records, School of Seven Bells covering Siouxsie & The Banshees, reissues from Bowie, The Cure, The Clash, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, brand new tracks from Garbage, Gorillaz, The Cult and Coldpay and many other treats.
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Posted on March 21, 2012 in Music News, New Release
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Tagged David Bowie, Empire Records, Garbage, M83, Pretty In Pink, Record Store Day, School of Seven Bells, The Breakfast Club, The Cult, The Cure
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Strangeways Radio photographer Jennifer Jeffery (aka DJ Pinknoise) captured some shots of VNV Nation live in action at the Necto in Ann Arbor last week. VNV is in the 2nd leg of their world tour to promote their latest album “Automative”. The band played a special “extended set”. They commented on the energy and enthsiasm of the fans “Last night at the Necto in Ann Arbor was something else. The crowd was deafeningly loud and didn’t stop moving til the end. The whole club was shaking.” Check out some of the photos from the show.
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he long rumored musical based on The Flaming Lips’ 2002 album, Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots, is now a reality. Des McAnuff (former artistic director of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and director of Broadway shows likes Big River, The Who’s Tommy and Jersey Boys) will direct with music and lyrics by The Flaming Lips. The musical numbers will come not only from Yoshimi but also 1999’s The Soft Bulletin and 2006’s At War with the Mystics. Despite earlier rumors, screenwriter Aaron Sorkin is no longer involved.
Described as a “poignant, humanistic story about the triumph of love and optimism over the mystery of our own mortality,” the musical centers around Yoshimi, a Japanese artist who is fighting evil in a ‘Robot World’. Continue reading →
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Bret Ratner, Director of feature films like Rush Hour (and its sequels), Red Dragon and The Tower Heist is finalizing details to helm the film adaptation of Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum’s book I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution. While Ratner, may at first glance seem like an odd choices, he is no stranger to music videos. He has directed music videos for the likes of LL Cool J, Wu-Tang Clan, P-Diddy, Mariah Carey, Jessica Simpson, Courtney Love, Miley Cyrus and Cannibal Corpse. That’s right…we used Miley Cyrus in a sentence with Cannibal Corpse.
Remember the first time you saw Michael Jackson dance with zombies in “Thriller”? Diamond Dave karate kick with Van Halen in “Jump”? Tawny Kitaen turning cartwheels on a Jaguar to Whitesnake’s “Here I Go Again”? The Beastie Boys spray beer in “(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party)”? Axl Rose step off the bus in “Welcome to the Jungle”?
It was a pretty radical idea-a channel for teenagers, showing nothing but music videos. It was such a radical idea that almost no one thought it would actually succeed, much less become a force in the worlds of music, television, film, fashion, sports, and even politics. But it did work. MTV became more than anyone had ever imagined.
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UK purveyors of Post-Punk laden Shoegaze (or is it Shoegaze laden Post-Punk?) The Horrors, have just released the 3rd single from their latest album Skying. Their 2nd album, Primary Colours was a breakthrough for the band, scoring #25 on the UK chart, garnering critical acclaim and scores of new fans. There was understandably, much anticipation regarding Skying, and it has certainly not disappointed!
The album, released in July, 2011 was preceded by the single Still Life. Skying itself broke the Uk Top 25 Album chart and earned the band their most buzz to date. The 2nd single, I Can See Through You graced numerous year end best-of lists from the Strangeways Radio staff of DJs. We can easily see a string of more singles to come from this great record. The band has just released a video for the 3rd single, Changing The Rain.
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Nedry, a three piece trip-hop act out London, just released their follow up to their 2010 album ‘Condor’. The new album is called ‘In A Dim Light’ and it is a welcome new release for Strangeways listeners who have been craving new trip-hop material from this genre that seems to have been slowing down.
The vocals on Nedry remind us of Icelandic acts Bjork and Emiliana Torrini. Violaceae captivates us with a downtempo vibe reminiscent of Massive Attack, while Post Six brings to mind Lamb-like drum and bass. If those comparisons sound welcome to you, then by all means give this band a listen. Trip-hop is alive and well with Nedry and that should make us Strangies very happy!
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Britpop fans take note! Penguin General Publishing has announced a memoir by The Charlatans’ frontman Tim Burgess. The book, set for an April 26 release, will be named after the band’s 1997 album, Telling Stories, their most successful release to date; sporting 3 top 10 singles.
The book, Telling Stories, according to Penguin, is an incredibly frank and vivid memoir, in which Burgess describes the mad life of a rock star: the dynamics of the band, the creativity and the self-destruction, the sex and the drugs but also the rock ‘n roll – his obsession with music shines off the page as he writes about his influences and his encounters, from Dylan to New Order, from the Rolling Stones to Oasis.
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Formed in 1988, deardarkhead are a trio based in the Atlantic City, New Jersey area and consists of: guitarist Kevin Harrington, drummer Robert Weiss and bassist Kevin McCauley, who came on board during the fall of 2010 after the departure of longtime singer/bassist Michael Amper. The band takes its name from an anonymously written Irish poem of the 18th century Cean Dubh Dilis, about a beautiful girl with black hair.
The group’s sound is openly and proudly Anglophilic, combining both elements of the blissout shoegazer scene and a slightly older vein of post-punk guitar experimentalism, making a rich combination between the two influences. Words like “atmospheric”, “ethereal” and “dreampop” are often used to describe their original guitar driven, psychedelic storm of sound that balances moody textures and shimmering melodies.
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