Chad VanGaalen has delivered a beautiful, amorphous video for “Host Body,” one of the standouts from Light Information, his acclaimed album of 2017.
“The theme of the video is paranoia and the illusion of reality. All of the beings in the animation are affected by how they perceive themselves through the internet, or through technological devices they have come in contact with. In this animated take on the song, the ‘parasitic demon’ is the worshiping and addiction of the augmented reality,” VanGaalen says of the new visual, which he animated meticulously over the last four months.
Chad VanGaalen has also scheduled a mainland and eastern European tour in support of Light Information for 2018, which begins May 26th in Madrid, Spain at Tomavistas Festival and ends June 5th in Krakow, Poland at Green Zoo. The tour will make additional stops in Belgium (Brussels), Netherlands (Amsterdam, Groningen) Russia (St. Petersburg, Moscow), and Poland (Warsaw).
May 26 - Madrid, ES - Tomavistas Festival May 29 - Brussels, BE - AB club May 30 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso May 31 - Groningen, NL - Vera Jun. 02 - St. Petersburg, RU - Erarta Stage Jun. 03 - Moscow, RU - 16 Tons Jun. 04 - Warsaw, PL - Plac Zabaw Jun. 05 - Krakow, PL - Green Zoo
These tour dates follow a visit to Germany in April 24-29 for the Stuttgart International Festival of Animated Film. The festival will be featuring a program retrospective of Chad’s animation work, a screening of his short sci-fi film “Tarboz”, and a live performance accompanied by visuals.
Light Information is available now on CD / LP / DL / CS worldwide on Sub Pop and in Canada through Flemish Eye.
Frankie Cosmos will release Vessel worldwide on March 30th via Sub Pop Records. You can now hear the band’s latest single “Apathy” via Stereogum as well as read a lengthy interview with frontwoman Greta Kline (see Stereogum feature March 1st).
The band will embark on a world tour in support of Vessel beginning on April 5th in Boulder, CO with stops in Santa Fe, Los Angeles, Seattle, with newly added US and European dates in May and June.
Apr. 05 - Boulder, CO - Fox Theater * Apr. 06 - Colorado Springs, CO - Black Sheep * Apr. 07 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf * Apr. 09 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom * Apr. 10 - San Diego, CA - Quartyard % Apr. 11 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theatre % Apr. 12 - Santa Ana, CA - The Constellation Room % Apr. 13 - Fresno, CA - Strummers % Apr. 14 - Berkeley, CA - UC Theatre % Apr. 17 - Seattle, WA - Neumos % Apr. 18 - Olympia, WA - Capitol Theater % Apr. 20 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom % Apr. 30 - Pawtucket, RI - The Met May 01 - New Haven, CT - Toad’s Place May 02 - Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair @ May 03 - Burlington, VT - ArtsRiot @ May 04 - Montreal, QC - Theatre Fairmount @ May 05 - Toronto, ON - The Rec Room @ May 06 - Grand Rapids, MI - The Pyramid Scheme May 07 - Chicago, IL - Lincoln Hall May 09 - Nashville, TN - The Basement East May 10 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle (Back Room) May 11 - Richmond, VA - Capital Ale House May 12 - Washington, DC - Black Cat May 13 - Philadelphia, PA - Union Transfer May 22 - Berlin, DE - Kantine am Berghain May 23 - Hamburg, DE - Aalhaus May 24 - Ghent, BE - DOKbox May 25 - Amsterdam, NL - - London Calling at Paradiso (Small Hall) May 26 - Paris, France - Petit Bain May 28 - Manchester, UK - Gorilla May 29 - Glasgow, UK - The Art School May 30 - Bristol, UK - The Fleece May 31 - London, UK - Scala Jun. 01 - Lille, France - Aeronef Jun. 08 - Queens, NY - Forest Hills Stadium # Jul. 14 - Madrid, ES - Mad Cool Festival
* w/ Lomelda @ Florist & Lala Lala % w/ Ian Sweet and SOAR # w/ Belle & Sebastian, Perfume Genius
Preorders for Vessel are available now through Sub Pop here. LP pre orders through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on blue vinyl (while supplies last).
What are The People saying about Frankie Cosmos? Glad you asked:
“Frankie Cosmos know how good it feels to acknowledge how epically, infuriatingly, beautifully helpless love can be.” [“Being Alive” Best New Track Review] - Pitchfork
“’Being Alive’ flutters like a heartbeat, careening in and out of heavy motion and rest.” [“Being Alive” Track Review] - Stereogum
“The song has Kline wandering through apathy, thinking about the things she could’ve done if she’d had the energy or will, poking at her subconscious.” [“Jesse” Track review] - Noisey
Today, King Tuff has shared another new song off his forthcoming album, The Other [pre-order here], out April 13th via Sub Pop Records. “Raindrop Blue,” oozing with soulful bass lines and pulsating saxophone melodies, continues Kyle Thomas’s new artistic vision as King Tuff. You’re listening to the song here now via the Emmanuelle Pickett-directed visuals above. Pre-order for the album is available now.
Speaking about “Raindrop Blue,” Thomas lays out its relevance to the greater story of the album and its relationship to the previously-released song ”The Other”:
“…I took the hand of the Other…you fell onto my fingers like velvet to the touch…
Is Raindrop Blue the lost forgotten lover? Is she the Other? Is she the Blue Subaru?
Funny story about that Blue Subaru…
I wrote “The Other” in October 2016. At the time it was a fictional story about losing myself and the quest to find the creative spirit again. I imagined myself driving around in a 1982 blue Subaru Brat, which has been my dream car ever since I was a little kid. I would see them driving around my hometown, Brattleboro, Vermont, and I thought the name Brat had something to do with the town itself. It always seemed like the unicorn of cars; you’d only catch a glimpse of one when you weren’t looking. So I was driving this car around in my song cuz you can do whatever you want inside a song.
A year and a half later and the album was done. I sent it to my good friend Em so she could take a listen. She’s been in school studying dreams and alchemy, and we talked about the dark side of the moon, the flip side of the mirror, the unknowable Other and things in the lyrics which were oddly in line with her studies. She’s always had the most poetically surreal dreams as long as I’ve known her, full of symbols and strange beauty, like she’s tapped into some kinda psychic conduit. She was in Vermont but her dreams had been telling her to go to New Mexico. She needed transportation for when she got there, so she was hunting around on Craigslist to find some dusty old high-desert gem she could zoom around in. The first car that popped up: “1982 Blue Subaru Brat in Albuquerque.” The exact car from my song. She sent me the ad. I immediately booked a flight out there, bought the car, and drove her back to LA in a blaze of romantic glory.
The lyrics in the song had somehow come true.
It felt like whatever this mysterious “Other” was, it seemed like maybe it was on my side. Helping me along. As long as I had faith in it.
So..is Raindrop Blue the Other? or the Subaru? Probably both and probably neither. But one thing is for certain: I love to dance.”
Thomas self-produced the record and brought in Shawn Everett (War On Drugs, Alabama Shakes) to assist with the mixing process.No less hooky than previous records, the new songs ditch the goofy rock-and-roll bacchanalia narratives of earlier records in favor of expansive arrangements, a diversity of instrumentation, and lyrics that straddle the fence between painful ruminations and reconnecting with that part of yourself that feels childlike and creative and not corroded by cynicism. The record features contributions from Ty Segall (drums), Jenny Lewis (vocals), Greta Morgan (vocals), and Mikal Cronin (saxophone).
Thomas views the entire experience of the record as a kind of psychic reset. “I let the songs lead me where they wanted to go, instead of trying to push them into a certain zone. King Tuff was always just supposed to be me. When I started doing this as a teenager, it was whatever I wanted it to be. King Tuff was never supposed to be just one thing. It was supposed to be everything.”
King Tuff Tour Dates + Ticket Links
On top of all this good news, King Tuff has also announced a North American tour beginning May 3rd in San Diego. Cut Worms will open the shows, and all tickets go on sale this Friday, February 9th. Visit www.kingtuff.life for more updates.
King Tuff on tour:
May 3 - San Diego, CA - The Casbah *
May 4 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar *
May 5 - Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf *
May 7 - Houston, TX - Rockefeller Hall *
May 8 - Austin, TX - Barracuda (outside) *
May 9 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada *
May 11 - New Orleans, LA - One Eyed Jacks *
May 12 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl *
May 13 - Nashville TN - The Basement East *
May 14 - Lexington, KY - The Burl *
May 16 - Washington DC - Rock & Roll Hotel *
May 18 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg *
May 19 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church *
Their Prime will be available worldwide from Sub Pop Records with the exception of Canada through Royal Mountain Records
Stoked to announce we signed Canadian rippers Jo Passed, and on May 25th we’ll release Their Prime, the band’s first full-length record, worldwide through Sub Pop Records, with the exception of Canada through Royal Mountain Records. The album, which features the singles “ MDM,” “Glass” and “Millennial Trash Blues,” was recorded during the fall / winter of 2016/17 at Thor’s Palace & KW Studios, both in the band’s hometown of Vancouver, British Columbia.
The band have delivered an official video for Their Prime standout “MDM,” which was directed by Eleanor Petry.” Bandleader Jo Hirabayashi says of the video, “something something, on my phone too much, something something, marshall mcluhan, something something, stanley kubrick, something something, the medium is the message, something something, ouch my insides.”
Jo has been part of the DIY music scene since his late teens. Initially it was just him and his high school best friend Elliot Langford against the world. They were the “freaky music weirdos” and they began their own band projects. Jo was pretty sure that it would be two of them riding into the sunset – or maybe the gloom – together. Personal circumstances and the phenomenon of the late 20s return of Saturn (for those who believe in astrology) got in the way. Their band Sprïng called it a day. That’s where the life of Jo Passed began. The idea of a band dynamic is far more appealing to Jo than solo projects, and the current incarnation of Jo Passed feels like its most robust yet.
Jo, along with his friend and drummer Mac Lawrie, moved across the country from Vancouver to Montreal. The two would play shows in Montreal and eventually tour the far right corner of North America. Upon Jo’s return to the west coast, multi-instrumentalist Bella Bébé officially joined the band in January of 2016, expanding Jo Passed from trio to a full quartet. Multimedia artist Megan-Magdalena Bourne began working with Jo Passed on a video project for the song “Rage” (from the Out EP). This creative partnership would eventually lead to her taking on the role of bassist for the band.
When not geeking out over The Zombies, or Nirvana, or Johann Sebastian Bach… Bella, Mac, and Megan have worked with Jo to realize the live experience of Their Prime, following two Jo Passed EPs titled Up and Out.
Jo Passed has scheduled a few spring club shows and festival dates before hitting the road later this year. Current highlights include shows with Hardly Art’s Dick Stusso (March 16th-24th) and an appearance at Treefort Music Festival in Boise (March 21st).
Mar. 16 - Bozeman, MT - Labor Temple* Mar. 18 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake Lounge* Mar. 19 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court* Mar. 21 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Festival Mar. 22 - Seattle, WA - Barboza* Mar. 24 - Portland, OR - Crush House * Apr. 14 - Victoria, BC - Lucky Bar *w/ Dick Stusso
Preorders for Their Prime are now available through Sub Pop and Royal Mountain Records. LP purchases in North America through megamart.subpop.com and select independent retailers will receive the limited Loser edition on clear vinyl (while supplies last).
Their Prime is a record about identity and the loss of time that happens as a direct consequence of being in the city with nowhere to rent, no time outside of employment and no realistic expectations to live up to. It encompasses that fear of being beyond the glory years, the most creatively fruitful period of one’s life. Those years were lost to contemporary struggles for working relationships, home, identity and space. “It’s me owning my worst nightmare,” he admits. “A lot of the Jo Passed project has been about confronting fears. I was afraid to move away from Vancouver to Montreal on my own. Afraid to leave musical relationships I had. Afraid to bare the full responsibility of a project. I’ve been putting out records and not ones anyone’s necessarily heard. Being open about those fears is a good way of dealing with them. You end up at this point where you hit 30 and you’re like, ‘Oh what happened? Am I done? Did I not activate my main creative energy?’ It’s a ridiculous idea but 30 feels a little like 1000 in rock n roll terms.” You can hear the frustrations and the jitters in the crashing loud-and-quiet motifs throughout the album’s twelve tracks, which offer up a patchwork quilt of sound, similar to Faust’s IV or Fugazi’s Red Medicine[read more at Sub Pop].
2018 International Tour Now Includes Dates Supporting METZ (Europe) and Preoccupations (US West Coast); New Shows Include Brooklyn, UK tour, SXSW
Experience Moaning’s forthcoming new album (out March 2nd) ahead of its release through a voyeuristic lens with this cover art visualizer and stream (see Brooklyn Vegan premiere February 26th). Directed by the band and Max Flick, this “cover art visualizer” features a different vignette for every song on the album.
“[Moaning] incorporate dark shoegaze and wall-of-noise rippers into their hazy palette, with some soaring, poppy numbers too. (They’re a little bit like ’00s-era LA band Abe Vigoda.) We’re premiering a visual stream of the whole record that cleverly riffs on the album’s cover art,” says Brooklyn Vegan (see premiere February 26th).
Moaning has also just extended their international tour schedule for 2018 through June 21st. Highlights include: appearances at SXSW March 14th-17th; a support slot on labelmates METZ European jaunt (April 17th-18th; select dates April 23rd-May 5th); A US West Coast run opening for Secretly Canadian records act Preoccupations (May 11th-19th); A return trip to mainland EU and the UK for more festivals and headlining shows (May 25th-June 17th); And the addition of a Brooklyn, New York show on June 21st at Zone One at Elsewhere. Additional tour dates announced soon.
Mar. 09 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ^ Mar. 10 - Phoenix, AZ - Crescent Ballroom / Flying Burrito Music & Food Festival Mar. 11 - Flagstaff, AZ - The Burn Ward Mar. 13 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger / Heatwave 3 Festival Mar. 14 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Ground Control Touring Showcase at Barracuda Mar. 15 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Grey Estates Showcase at Voodoo Doughnut Mar. 16 - Austin, TX - SXSW Mar. 17 - Austin, TX - SXSW / Burgermania 7 at Hotel Vegas Mar. 18 - Hot Springs, AR -Valley of the Vapors Mar. 20 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle Mar. 21 - Omaha, NE - O’Leavers Mar. 21 - 25 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Festival Mar. 22 - Denver, CO - Lost Lake ^^ Mar. 23 - Salt Lake City, UT - Kilby Court # Mar. 25 - Reno, NV - Holland Project $ Apr. 17 - Lisbon, PT - Musicbox * Apr. 18 - Porto, PT - Hard Club * Apr. 19 - Benidorm, ES - Fuzzville Festival Apr. 20 - Hondarribia, ES - Psichobelicenea Apr. 21 - Barcelona, ES - Sala Be Good Apr. 23 - Milan, IT - Magnolia * Apr. 24 - Bologna, IT - Freakout* Apr. 25 - Munich, DE - Strom * Apr. 26 - Cologne, DE - Gebaude 9 * Apr. 28 - London, UK - Test Pressing Festival * Apr. 30 - Glasgow, UK - Stereo * May 02 - Manchester, UK - Soup Kitchen * May 03 - Ramsgate, UK - Ramsgate Music Hall * May 05 - Leffingen, BE - De Zwerver * May 11 - Seattle, WA - Barboza ** May 12 - Portland, OR - Star Theatre ** May 14 - San Francisco, CA - Rickshaw Stop ** May 17 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ** May 18 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ** [SOLD OUT] May 19 - Phoenix, AZ - Valley Bar ** May 25 - Laval, FR - 3 Les Elephants Festival May 26 - Amsterdam, NL - London Calling Festival May 27 - Brussels, BE - AB Club May 29 - Lausanne, CH - Le Romandie May 30 - Carpi, IT - Mattatoio Jun. 01 - Nimes, FR - This Is Not A Lovesong Festival Jun. 05 - Tours, FR - Aucard de tour Jun. 06 - Angers, FR - Heron Carre Jun. 07 - Le Havre, FR - Mc Daids Jun. 10 - Hilvarenbeek, NL - Best Kept Secret Festival Jun. 12 - London, UK - The Lexington Jun. 14 - Glasgow, UK - Broadcast Jun. 15 - Bristol, UK - Rough Trade Jun. 17 - Margate, UK - Tom Thumb Jun. 21 - Brooklyn, NY - Zone One at Elsewhere
