We’re super happy to announce that The Album Leaf’s 2004 classic In A Safe Place vinyl reissue is available now worldwide from Sub Pop. This vinyl edition of the album - out of print since 2007 - has been repressed both on black and a limited “Loser” edition colored vinyl (while supplies last). In A Safe Place vinyl is now available for purchase at megamart.subpop.com, and you can revisit the official video for track “On Your Way” right here.
Later this fall, The Album Leaf will perform In A Safe Place in it’s entirety at All Tomorrow’s Parties “Nightmare Before Christmas” weekender, to be held at Prestatyn Holiday Centre, North Wales, UK, November 27th-29th, 2015. For more info please visit https://www.atpfestival.com/events/atpnbc112015/view/eventinfo.
In A Safe Place’s songs “On Your Way,” “Eastern Glow,” “Window,” “Over the Pond,” TwentyTwoFourteen,” “The Outer Banks” and “Another Day” have been featured in a variety of TV shows and films over the years, including The OC, CSI Miami, Brotherhood and more. Additionally, “Window” was used in a fan made, mashup video [view here] featuring Charlie Chaplan’s speech from The Great Dictator, which has amassed over 15 million views.
About The Album Leaf: Jimmy LaValle has released critically-acclaimed solo work as The Album Leaf (the name comes from a Chopin piece) since 1999’s mellow An Orchestrated Rise to Fall (Linkwork). During the realization of 2003’s Lifetime or More (Arena Rock) and Seal Beach (Acuarela) EPs, he prepared himself to take on a new direction by founding his rich, textural documents on minimalist beats. At the time of 2003’s recording sessions, however, nothing could have prepared LaValle for the experience he had in Iceland.
LaValle befriended Sigur Ros on their first U.S. tour, and they encouraged him northward to Iceland. With the help of his hosts, including members of Sigur Rós and Múm, LaValle was able to craft an album that ventures into new territory. Chillingly delicate and more pop-based than ever before, In A Safe Place masterfully negotiates the spaces between minimal electronic music and melancholy instrumental neo-rock. The inclusion of vocals from The Black Heart Procession’s Pall Jenkins, Sigur Rós’ Jon Thor Birgisson, and LaValle himself is one of the striking results from this newly collaborative process.
Release day has arrived for Goat’s 7” single, “It’s Time For Fun,” one of the first batch of new tunes from the group since their critically-acclaimed second album Commune was released last September.
Goat have scheduled a handful of live appearances this fall, taking their legendarily earth-shaking live show to Greece and Australia. (tour dates below)
“It’s Time For Fun” is now available digitally and on 7” vinyl in North America from Sub Pop Records, iTunes, and Amazon. [It’s also available in Scandinavia via Stranded Rekords, and via Rocket Recordings in the rest of the world.]
About Goat’s “It’s Time For Fun” single:
The winter months following that release saw the band return to their village of Korpilombolo in Sweden to start anew on fresh material, and this two-track single collects the first fruits of this work.
However, these two songs were not recorded in their native land - instead Goat decided to hit the studio on a recent excursion to the Americas. The A-side ‘It’s Time For Fun’ was recorded in New York whilst B-side ‘Relax’ was committed to posterity in Sao Paolo.
New York seems a fitting location for the recording of ‘It’s Time For Fun’ as the spirit of ESG and early ‘80s No Wave runs through the skittering drum machines, dubby basslines, fuzzy synth and the haunted chants of the vocals.
Its flip-side ‘Relax’ mainlines a similar vibe, yet this reflective instrumental marries ‘Future Days’ like drum machine, tribal percussion, grooved-out bass and a fan-driven organ solo that gyrates elegantly in a manner akin to a North African Heldon or Fripp & Eno.
[ photo by Ante Johansson ]
Tour Dates
Oct. 17 - Athens, GR - Gagarin Festival
Nov. 28 - Gothenburg, SE - Gothenburg Film Studios
Lee Bains III & The Glory Fires deliver their raucous brand of Southern Rock to the people, as their U.S. tour kicks off this week in support of recent single “Sweet Disorder” and Dereconstructed the group’s acclaimed 2014 album.
Got yer tickets but you just can’t wait for the show? Have a listen to the album right over here.
The voyage begins tomorrow night, September 25th in Lexington, KY at Cosmic Charlies and has been extended through Saturday, November 7th in Whitesburg, KY at Appalshop. The group will also be joined by Saddle Creek recording artists Pujol for select dates (as you’ll see below).
Single “Sweet Disorder!” was produced by Tim Kerr, cut by Jeremy Ferguson, mixed by Bains and Ferguson at Battletapes in Nashville, TN. The b-side, “Stars,” a Primitons cover, was recorded by Lee on Lee’s phone in Atlanta, GA and shined up by Ferguson, also at Battletapes.
Both “Sweet Disorder!” and Dereconstructed are available for purchase from Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon, and your friendly neighborhood record shop.
What do The People have to say about Dereconstructed?
“Dereconstructed, the band’s second album, ponders Southern identity in a welter of cranked-up guitars, bristling drums and rasping, hollering vocals. It’s pandemonium with a conscience.” - New York Times
“A terrific album.” [4/5 Stars] - The Guardian
“If there’s one tradition Bains and the Glory Fires unquestioningly uphold, it’s the Friday-night custom of burning down the house.” - NPR Music
“It’s a dirty-sounding album, full of scuzzy red-line guitars and overdriven vocals, but even all that speaker-busting grit doesn’t hide the alluring melodies Bains threads among the mayhem.” - Paste
“Bains likes to rock. He and the Glory Fires wrap his commentaries, ruminations, and invective in what he calls “real Alabama rock ’n’ roll,” a raging burnpile of garage and Southern rock, dirty, supercharged blues and soul, Stonesy groove, Crazy Horse howl, and punk slam. With these songs, Bains surely wants to make you think; he surely will make you shake.” - The Boston Globe
Bains hails from Birmingham, a city torn apart by some of the South’s most tragic events, and the singer isn’t shy about assailing the shortcomings and flaws, while also delivering a dose of don’t-forget-where-you’re-from pride. It’s fiercely intelligent stuff with a raucous sound.” [Best Album of 2014] - Garden & Gun
Tour Dates:
Sep. 25 - Lexington, KY - Cosmic Charlies* Sep. 26 - Louisville, KY - Zanzabar* Sep. 27 - Champaign, IL - Pygmalion Festival Sep. 28 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle * Sep. 29 - Grand Rapids, MI - Pyramid Scheme * Sep. 30 - Detroit, MI - UFO Factory * Oct. 01 - Pittsburgh, PA - Smiling Moose * Oct. 02 - Lancaster, PA - Lizard Lounge * Oct. 03 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right * Oct. 04 - Providence, RI - Aurora * Oct. 05 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie * Oct. 06 - Morgantown, WV - 123 Pleasant Street Oct. 07 - Washington DC - Black Cat (Backstage)* Oct. 08 - Harrisonburg, VA - Clementine Cafe * Oct. 09 - Charlotte, NC - Milestone Oct. 10 - Greenville, SC - Fall For Greenville Oct. 20 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry’s Oct. 21 - Little Rock, AR - White Water Tavern Oct. 22 - Dallas, TX - Three Links Oct. 23 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger Oct. 24 - Austin, TX - Mohawk Oct. 25 - Houston, TX - Walter’s Oct. 26 - Baton Rouge, LA - Chelsea’s Oct. 27 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia Oct. 28 - Tallahassee, FL - Club Downunder * Oct. 29 - Orlando, FL - Will’s Pub * Oct. 30 - Tampa, FL - Crowbar Oct. 31 - Jacksonville, FL - Burro Bar * Nov. 01 - Gainesville, FL - The FEST Nov. 05 - Raleigh, NC - Slim’s Nov. 06- Richmond, VA - The Extravaganza @ Broadberry Nov. 07 - Whitesburg, KY - Appalshop * w/ Pujol
For more information + ticket links, please go here.
Strange Wilds begin ripping their way across North American in support of their debut album, Subjective Concepts, tomorrow night, Thursday, September 25th at Black Lodge in Seattle. The tour keeps on rolling until November 21st, and takes the band throughout the continental U.S.
Newly added tour dates include: October 10th in Athens, OH at Galbreath Chapel; October 14th in Annondale, NY at SMOG at Bard College; October 15th in Brooklyn, NY at the Knitting Factory for Sub Pop & Hardly Art’s CMJ showcase; November 8th in San Diego, CA at the Soda Bar; and November 12th in Bakersfield, CA at Temblor Brewing Company; November 20th in Tacoma, WA at Real Art. (details below)
New to (or already obsessed with) Strange Wilds? Find their YouTube playlist (feat. the official “Pronoia” video) right here.
Strange Wilds’ Subjective Concepts is available now on CD / LP / DL at the Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon and Bandcamp. All customers who order the LP version of Subjective Concepts from megamart.subpop.com and Bandcamp will receive the limited “Loser Edition” on white vinyl while supplies last. (There’s a new T-shirt design available too)
[ Photo courtesy of the band ]
What do ‘They” say about Strange Wilds? Here are some good words:
“Pronoia is the opposite of paranoia, essentially the happy delusion that there is a conspiracy that exists to help people. It’s also the name of the hellish four-minute blast of noise that’s the best song on this debut album by Seattle trio Strange Wilds. The follow-up to 2014’s four-track ‘Wet’ EP, Subjective Concepts sounds like it was raised on ‘Bleach’-era Nirvana and aligns the band with their Washington peers Milk Music and Naomi Punk. They build a monumental wall of hardcore noise on ‘Egophillia’, before taking a wrecking ball to it and screaming wildly into the mess. Elsewhere, there are tight grooves on ‘Disdain’ and ‘Terrible’, and the guttural riffs on ‘Starved For’ offer plenty for bleeding gums to gnaw on.” -NME
“Touch And Go-style post rock with early grunge.” - The AV Club
“Northwestern American trio tap into grunge’s collective unconscious, channelling crushing riffs and ancestral memories of hardcore.” MOJO
“Loud, sneering, and heavy-set, Subjective Concepts could come wrapped in a rain-soaked plaid shirt.” - LOUD & QUIET
“Taut, virile hardcore punk with a seething intelligence… It’s an absolute gem.” - CLASH MUSIC
“An undeniably exciting listen.” - UNCUT
“With their excellent full-length debut, this savage young trio offers a stiff reminder of those bygone halcyon days when Chad Channing drummed for Nirvana instead of Dave Grohl. But while the barbed, razor-sharp riffs and tightrope bass thuds of Bleach largely inform the scrappy nature of key tracks like caustic opener “Pronoia” and the pensive “Oneirophobe,” there is an influential undercurrent of the signature sounds of their own city back in the day as well. Shades of K Records classics from Beat Happening and Some Velvet Sidewalk additionally factor into the more melodic elements of Subjective Concepts, particularly within the structures of college radio-ready songs like “Don’t Have To” and “Lose and Found.” - PASTE
“They are a powerful outfit, and Subjective Concepts is cohesive and fierce.” - Pitchfork
“Toggles between a coiled-snake groove and the kind of full scream-along ferocity that makes you want to thrash around in a small, dark room with a bunch of sweaty strangers. This is noisy, heavy, grimy music, and it’s great.” [“Pronoia”] - Stereogum
“A sludged-out mess of hardcore that slam dances with the Seattle label’s past and it wouldn’t be surprising at all to see them on a tour run that’s stacked with Mogwai, METZ, or Pissed Jeans” [“Pronoia”] - BLARE
“‘Starved For’ sounds exactly like what you’d want to be listening to if you lived inside of a Tony Hawk Pro Skater game.” - Noisey
Tour Dates
Sep. 25 - Seattle, WA - Black Lodge Sep. 26 - Vancouver, BC - The Biltmore Sep. 27 - Portland, OR - They Know Sep. 30 - Olympia, WA - Old School Oct. 01 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Oct. 02 - Los Angeles, CA - The Smell Oct. 03 - Tempe, AZ - Time Out Lounge Oct. 04 - Albuquerque, NM - Sister Oct. 05 - Denver, CO - Rhinoceropolis Oct. 06 - Omaha, NE - West Wing Oct. 07 - Columbia, MO - Cafe Berlin Oct. 08 - Milwaukee, WI - Riverwest Public House Oct. 09 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle Oct. 10 - Athens, OH - Galbreath Chapel Oct. 11 - Detroit, MI - Marble Bar Oct. 12 - Cleveland, OH - Now That’s Class Oct. 13 - Pittsburgh, PA - Spirit Oct. 14 - Annondale, NY - SMOG at Bard College Oct. 15 - Brooklyn, NY - Knitting Factory (Sub Pop / Hardly Art CMJ Showcase) Oct. 16 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool (Strange Victory Touring CMJ Party) Oct. 17 - New York, NY - Aviv Oct. 18 - Montreal, QC - Turbo Haus Oct. 19 - Toronto, ON - Smiling Buddha Oct. 20 - Rochester, NY - Bug Jar Oct. 21 - Albany, NY - The Low Beat Oct. 22 - Providence, RI - Aurora Oct. 23 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie Oct. 24 - Washington, DC - The (sea) Lab Oct. 26 - RIchmond, VA - Strange Matter Oct. 27 - Asheville, NC - Tiger Mountain Oct. 28 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn Oct. 30 - Miami, FL - Kill Your Idol Oct. 31 - Gainesville, FL - Fest 14 / The Atlantic Nov. 01 - Jacksonville, FL - Rain Dogs Nov. 02 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia Nov. 03 - Houston, TX - Walter’s Downtown Nov. 04 - Austin, TX - Beerland Nov. 06 - Tucson, AZ - Hotel Congress Nov. 08 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar Nov. 09 - Fullerton, CA - Continental Room Nov. 10 - El Centro, CA - Strangers Nov. 11 - Los Angeles, CA - All Star Lanes Nov. 12 - Bakersfield, CA - Temblor Brewing Company Nov. 13 - Oakland, CA - 1-2-3-4 Go Records Nov. 14 - Santa Rosa, CA - Atlas Coffee Company Nov. 16 - Reno, NV - The Holland Project Nov. 17 - Salt Lake City, UT - Diabolical Records Nov. 18 - Boise, ID - Neurolux Nov. 19 - Portland, OR - Bunk Bar Nov. 20 - Tacoma, WA - Real Art Nov. 21 - Seattle, WA - The Highline
For more tour information + ticket links, please go here.
Landing firmly (yet gently) at #35 in the U.K. Top 40 official albums and #68 here in the U.S. on SoundScan’s Top Current Albums charts, Low’s new Ones and Sixes has earned the group its highest-ever debut in the U.K., and its second-best showing in the U.S.
Over the airwaves this week, Ones and Sixes is currently # 13 on the CMJ Top 200 chart, and is seeing strong support from NonComm reporters, with confirmed sessions at KCRW’s “Morning Becomes Eclectic” (November 16th), WXPN’s “World Cafe” (airdate TBD), KCMP’s The Current (view here), KEXP, and more.
Ones and Sixes is also one of the best-reviewed albums of Low’s career (horn toot!) with international acclaim from the likes of NPR Music, Paste, Rolling Stone, SPIN, Boston Globe, Pitchfork, Under the Radar, The Guardian, The Observer, DIY, Q, MOJO, Uncut, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Chicago Tribune, CLASH, The Sunday Times, Dusted, NOW, and more. And the band are the current cover stars of MAGNET’s September issue, interviewed by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon (view cover / read an excerpt of the story here).
Low’s headlining North American and European tour in support of Ones and Sixes is currently underway, with a show tonight, Wednesday, September 23rd in Boston at Brighton Music Hall, and ends November 21st in Seattle, WA at the Crocodile. When the band returns to the EU on tour in October, they’ll also play their largest headlining date at London’s iconic Roundhouse on October 10th. (see details below)
- - - - -
May we suggest that you trade your dollars for this intoxicating new record*? Ones and Sixes is available now from the Sub Pop Mega Mart, iTunes, Amazon, and Bandcamp.
*Thrilled (and sorry) to report, that the limited “Loser Edition” of the double-LP (yellow vinyl + variant slipcase cover) is sold out on megamart.subpop.com. So we encourage you to (respectfully) stalk your local independent record store for this special edition. It’s also available from the the band themselves at their upcoming tour dates.
Ones and Sixes, featuring the standouts “No Comprende,” “What Part of Me,” “Lies,” “Gentle,” and “No End,” was co-produced by the band and engineer BJ Burton at Justin Vernon’s April Base Studios in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.
You might like to know (as we did) what “They” are saying about Low’s Ones and Sixes:
“It’s one thing for Low to have made a rewarding career of spare, dramatic, glacially paced music…It’s another to make those ingredients sound so incredibly dynamic; to spend 20-plus years making a dozen albums that each feel distinct, and that each introduce new ideas, twists and ways to wring drama out of the space between notes…Throughout Ones and Sixes, the Minnesota trio somehow gives weight to airiness as comfort and discord orbit each other like a binary star. But every time the portent threatens to become overbearing — just as the mix of prettiness and heaviness tips a little too far out of alignment — Low punctures it with a burst of cleansing aggression or some pristine, exquisite surprise. Anything to keep us off balance.” [“First Listen”] - NPR Music
“The band’s strengths are here in abundance, but they are reimagined, twisted into new shapes and given a visceral intensity that is utterly irresistible.” [9/10] - CLASH
“…Striking a balance between their majestic, slow-moving melancholy and harsher experimental noise.” [4/5] - The Guardian
“One of the most impressive albums of their career” [4/5] - MOJO
“‘What Part of Me,’ with its upbeat percussion, fuzzy guitar textures and sweet harmonized lyrics about relationship boundaries (‘What part of me don’t you own?’), feels like a sideways response to the post-1989 maximalism of today’s Top 40; “Into You” is a gospel-inflected, subtly sexy slow jam; and “The Innocents” sets accusatory vocals over a crunching electro-industrial beat, all to excellent effect. Elsewhere, on the gentle, pained duet “Lies,” Low remind us they’re still masters of doing a lot with a little.” - Rolling Stone
“Ones and Sixes is all at once beautiful, ugly, tense, warm, inviting and repellent. It’s an emotional and sonic juggling act where even the slightest bum-note would draw attention to itself. As always with Low, the beauty is all about the details” - Pitchfork
‘Ones and Sixes is an ear-pricking listen.’ [Album of the Week] - The Observer
“Ones and Sixes finds them producing some of their best work in years” - The Quietus
“It’s another subtly heart-rending effort from a band that remains one of the very finest in the world. If you needed a reminder of why Low are an institution then this is it.” [8/10] - Drowned in Sound
“Somehow, with each new release (and they come regularly, every two or three years), Low manage to find new ways of protracting their deceptively beautiful melodies.” [4.5/5] - Music OMH
“Ones and Sixes hinges on tension that courses throughout these 12 songs. The drums land with a thud, as if transferred from modern R&B and hip-hop. They anchor songs that crackle with bits of distortion and chiming guitars that somehow feel disembodied from everything surrounding them. Then, in keeping with a signature Low move, there is the spectral spark created by Parker and Sparhawk singing together; their alchemy is otherworldly and downright intoxicating.” - Boston Globe
“With Ones and Sixes they’ve pulled together many of their disparate sides in a masterful survey of what makes them one of the great rock bands of their era.” - Dusted
“Ones and Sixes sees Low churning out some of their most accessible work, with “What Part of Me” having the potential to be an unlikely hit. As ever, strong stuff in every way.” [4/5] - Record Collector
“Low’s always been good at making records where it sounds like every note and beat contains some degree of pain and hope you’ve felt. So hopefully it’s compelling when this one stands out even more as one of their best.” [8.1 /10] - PASTE
“Low remain as vital as ever” - DIY
“After two decades, a band that could easily feel part of the wallpaper remain hungry to show that you never know what lies beneath” [8/10] - Uncut
“Comfortably ahead of the pop pack” - The Sunday Times
“Masters of transforming emptiness into swelling, sweeping orchestrations of musical and mental noise, Low are truly intense and joyful on their newest exhibition of off-kilter, subterranean pop.” [4/5] - NOW
Tour Dates
Sep. 23 - Boston, MA - Brighton Music Hall* Sep. 24 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg* Sep. 25 - Hamden, Connecticut – The Ballroom at The Outer Space* Sep. 26 - Washington, DC - Black Cat* Oct. 07 - Manchester, UK - Cathedral ^ Oct. 08 - Glasgow, UK - Art School = Oct. 10 - London, UK - Roundhouse ^ Oct. 12 - Koln, DE - Gebaude 9 = Oct. 13 - Hamburg, DE – Knust = Oct. 14 - Copenhagen, DK – Vega = Oct. 15 - Stockholm, SE – Kagelbanan = Oct. 17 - Berlin, DE – Lido = Oct. 19 - Munich, DE – Ampere = Oct. 20 - Bologna, IT - Teatro Antoniano = Oct. 22 - Zaragoza, ES - Las Armas = Oct. 23 - Barcelona, ES – Bikini = Oct. 24 - Valencia, ES - Deleste Festival Oct. 26 - Madrid, ES - Teatro Lara = Oct. 27 - Santander, ES – Escenario = Oct. 29 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso ^ Oct. 30 – Tourcoing, FR – Le Grand Mix = Oct. 31 - Brussels, BE – AB + Nov. 02 – Paris, FR – Le Divan du Monde = Nov. 11 - Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue* Nov. 12 – Omaha, NE – Reverb Lounge* Nov. 13 - Denver, CO - Larimer Lounge* Nov. 14 - Salt Lake City, UT - The Complex* Nov. 16 - Los Angeles, CA - The Troubadour* Nov. 18 - San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall* Nov. 20 - Portland, OR - Doug Fir* Nov. 21 - Seattle, WA - The Crocodile* Feb. 01 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s
* w/ Andy Shauf ^ w/ Two Gallants + w/ Chelsea Wolfe = w/ Mike Noga
