What's New(s)?

Broken Bells announce tour

Much of After the Disco, The Shins' James Mercer and Danger Mouse's second LP as Broken Bells, was a dancefloor affair for the melancholic set and now that disco-ball melancholia will be hitting the road. Partnering with the B612 Foundation, the duo will be giving one dollar from every ticket sold on the summer tour to the Sentinel Mission, a program that aims to "protect Earth while preparing for future exploration." An overview on B612's site expands on the program's aim, "Sentinel is a space-based infrared (IR) survey mission to discover and catalog 90 percent of the asteroids larger than 140 meters in Earth’s region of the solar system." All of which fits perfectly with the album's space-centric videos. Dates for the tour can be found below.

Tour Dates:
6/7 Randall’s Island, NY - Governor’s Ball Music Festival
6/12-15 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
6/16 St. Louis, MO - The Pageant
6/18 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre
6/19 Columbus, OH - The LC Indoor Pavillion
6/20 Louisville, KY - Iroquois Amphitheater
6/21-22 Dover, DE - Firefly Festival
8/1 Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
8/3 Minneapolis, MN - State Theater
8/4 Winnipeg, Manitoba - Burton Cummings Theatre
8/6 Calgary, Alberta - Jack Singer Concert Hall
8/7 Edmonton, Alberta - Winspear Centre
8/8-9 Squamish, British Columbia - Squamish Festival
8/10 Seattle, WA - Moore Theatre
8/11 Portland, OR - Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall 

 

American Football reuniting for first shows in 15 years

 

The term "emo-revival" has considerably high cache right now, so there's seemingly no better time for original 90s emos bands to reunite. Which is precisely what Champaign-Urbana's American Football is doing this fall. On May 20 the trio of Mike Kinshella, Steve Lamos, and Steve Holmes is reissuing a deluxe edition of American Football, their sole LP via Polyvinyl. 

To promote the record the band will be performing in their hometown as part of the Pygmalion Music Festival, before heading to New York in mid-October. In discussing the trio's intent for reuniting, guitarist Steve Holmes said, "Obviously, we knew the time was ripe for three middle aged dudes to play some old songs about teenage feelings, and stand around tuning guitars for a long time."

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Pygmalion Music Festival and will also feature performances from: Chvrches, Panda Bear, Real Estate, Sun Kil Moon, Deafheaven, Speedy Ortiz, and more. While you wait for that, check out the band's dates along with their aching 1998 single "Five Silent Miles".

Reunion Dates:
9/28 Urbana-Champaign, IL - Pygmalion Music Festival
10/11 New York, NY - Webster Hall

Check back tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.

"What's New(s)?"

Broken Bells release After the Disco title-track

Broken Bells, the electronic-leaning collaboration between Danger Mouse and the Shins James Mercer, are nearing the release of their new LP After the Disco and today they've debuted the album's title-track. "Holding On For Life", the thermin soaked first cut from the record languished on the dance-floor, while "After the Disco" seems to effortlessly glide. Here Mercer's voice is positively giddy as he struts across lockstep drumming and aqueous synths. Stereogum's Tom Breihan called it "not too far removed from Hall & Oates" and that signpost to feathery 80s pop doesn't seem far off.

After the Disco drops February 4th through Columbia.

Clipse working on a new album with Neptunes


After constantly dancing around reunion rumors, brothers Gene Thornton and Terrence Thornton, better known to the world as No Malice and Pusha T of Clipse are apparently back together working in the studio. And if that weren't enough to get fans of the Virgina Beach duo excited, production team the Neptunes will be manning the boards. Pusha and No Malice collaborated on last year's "Shame the Devil" for Malice's Hear Ye Him, but that seemed more one-off than full-blown reunion.

Today that reunion became reality when Karen Civil's website confirmed the rumors after Pusha T had been posting pics of himself in studio with the Neptunes. According to Civil's reporting, the as-of-yet untitled album will be an independent project. Expect more details on the release as they become available, and while you wait enjoy the eternal classic "We Got It For Cheap" from 2006's Hell Hath No Fury.

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s) and follow @AllFreshSounds on Twitter for updates throughout the day.

What's New(s)?

Broken Bells announce tour

 
In anticipation of their upcoming After the Disco LP, Broken Bells (the Shins James Mercer and Danger Mouse) have announced a 2014 tour for the month of March. The 10-leg run begins in Minneapolis and wraps up in New Orleans on March 12, leaving open the possibility of an appearance at the 2014 SXSW Festival in Austin. For the entirety of the tour, electronic-pop duo Au Revoir Simone will be opening. After the dates, check out the group's mysterious After the Disco short film which features music (potentially from the new album) and stars Anton Yelchin of Charlie Bartlett fame and actress Kate Mara from House of Cards (as if James Mercer didn't already get enough Spacey comparisons).

Tour Dates:
2/28 Minneapolis, MN - First Avenue
3/1 Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre
3/3 Toronto, Ontario - Danforth Music Hall
3/4 Montreal, Quebec - Metropolis
3/5 Boston, MA - House of Blues
3/7 New York, NY - Webster Hall
3/8 Philadelphia, PA - The Trocadero Theatre
3/9 Washington, DC - 9:30 Club
3/11 Atlanta, GA - Tabernacle
3/12 New Orleans, LA - Civic Theatre


 




 
Queens of the Stone Age release interactive video

If the mammoth 15-minute animated video for Queens of the Stone Age's ...Like Clockwork weren't enough, the group has outdone themselves with an interactive feature for the brooding "The Vampyre of Time and Memory" directed by Kii Arens and Jason Trucco. Accompanied by surreal imagery of evil maids and dead animals, the pitch-black video airlifts the group into a house of horrors where every turn is controlled by the viewer.
 The interactive version can be checked out here, and if it's slow to respond you can check out the "regular version" below. In other Queens of the Stone Age news, the band will be releasing a live three-song EP entitled ...Like Cologne tomorrow on Spotify, featuring recordings from a recent stint in the German city.

Check back in tomorrow for more of the newest in new(s), and visit the AllFreshSounds Twitter account for additional news updates.

What's New(s)?

Broken Bells announce new album

Earlier today, duo Broken Bells comprised of the Shins' James Mercer and Danger Mouse debuted a mysterious desert trekking video that ended with the above image. It's now been confirmed that the band will be following up their 2010 self-titled debut with an album titled After the Disco. The LP sports a tentative January 2014 release date and the band teased the announcement on Twitter, tweeting "there may be more than meets the eye". 

Check out the minimalistic space fare below, complete with Mercer attempting his best falsetto over a wobbling synthesizer and steady drum beat.

RZA and Paul Banks making an album together

Yesterday's installment of "What's New(s)?" spotlighted the improbable partnership between sample fiend Girl Talk and former Rocafella member Freeway. Today comes an even more unlikely partnership, formed by the Wu-Tang Clan's RZA and Paul Banks of Interpol. In an interview for Rolling Stone, RZA took time out from plugging his latest projects to describe the effort which reportedly has been in the works for the past six months. Speaking to the motivation for recording with the Interpol frontman, RZA complimented "Paul just has an energy about him. I think if we put our sandwich together it will be great." Continuing, RZA said "we went to the studio and we started writing songs and they sound very, very different than what I do, but very unique and very peculiar." Though RZA was quick to temper the praise, ensuring "it won't be able for awhile."

Banks previously issued his rap mixtape Everybody On My D*** Like The Supposed to Be, so this isn't an entirely improbable partnership, but it does raise more than a few eyebrows. 

"What's in the Box"- Mike G (Prod. Paul Banks)