Spin.com Exclusive: Takka Takka "Everybody Say"

huge thanks to Kenny Herzog and the entire Spin.com staff!



Exclusive Takka Takka MP3 from 'Migration'
Yay! We premiere "Everybody Say," a brand new track featuring the National's Bryan Devendorf.



For their latest album, Migration (out July 29 via Ernest Jenning), NYC's Takka Takka recruited some pals for assistance in the studio, and drummer Bryan Devendorf from the National lends a percussive hand on "Everybody Say," a track from the record that's available for download below, exclusively on SPIN.com.

Devendorf's minimalist cameo behind the sticks buoys a stuttered riff that reiterates itself throughout the song. Elsewhere, the band shrouds a meditative lead guitar lick in gentler background reverberations and cryptically cooed lyrics. Falling somewhere between Fugazi's dubbiest moments and the culturally duplicitous percussion of fellow New York upstarts like Vampire Weekend, Takka Takka appear headed in directions far from your standard indie-rakka.

Now Hear This: "Everybody Say" (DOWNLOAD MP3)

The Gauntlet talks to Gridlink's Jon Chang!

huge thanks to Carlos and the entire Gaunlet.com staff!



Gridlink Interview



If you have followed Grindcore in the last fifteen years, you’re probably already familiar with the work of Jon Chang. The New Jersey native fronted the sorely-missed Discordance Axis, which also included blast beat god Dave Witte (Municipal Waste among others) on drums. Chang’s high-pitched screams and blood-curling growls spawned a scene of copy-cats. If it weren’t for Discordance Axis, its doubtful bands like Pig Destroyer would sound the way they do. The New Jersey based front man is currently fronting GridLink, a band that will surely appeal to old-school Grind and Power Violence fans and to more, forward-thinking Metal listeners. The Gauntlet recently caught up with the busy singer to talk about the new band, his history in Grindcore, and why Anal Cunt’s Seth Putnam wrote a song about him.

(((click to read full interview here!)))

Harvey Milk Announces West Coast Tourdates!

Harvey Milk
Announce West Coast Tourdates in Support of New Album, Life... The Best Game In Town, Out Now on Hydra Head!



On its first two albums, 1994's My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment Of What My Love Could Be and 1995's Courtesy And Good Will Toward Men, Athens, Georgia's Harvey Milk cultivated a strain of dirge-metal that was so outrageously glacial and depressed, it made Swans and Melvins sound twee in comparison. Bizarrely, the band followed these albums with an unironic (and awesome) set of KISS- and Led Zeppelin-inspired boogie rock—1998's The Pleaser—before going on hiatus, but with 2006's Special Wishes, Harvey Milk returned with its boogie and brawn in balance. Life... The Best Game In Town continues this idea, with the band (now featuring Thrones' Joe Preston on bass) alternately crushing skulls, moving asses, and in tracks like the Zeppelin-on-Quaaludes standout "Decades," doing both at once. Even subjectively speaking, Life... isn't easy listening (the anvil-heavy ballad "Roses" alone could drive the clinically depressed to suicide), but the improved contrast between upbeat and harrowing makes Harvey Milk's extremes that much easier to appreciate. - Aaron Burgess / The Onion AV Club

The "experimental metal band" with the tools and the audacity to outstrip, I think, most others, the Milk covered Leonard Cohen on their second record, devoted an entire performance to the catalogue of Hank Williams, and released a record that sounded aggressively like modern radio rock in 1997. Their records have offered noise and acoustics, whiplash and lullabies. - Pitchforkmedia.com

Death Goes to the Winner has it all; it starts with a delicate Christmas-themed ballad and then explodes into a mesmerising rock out before boiling down into a soupy, sludgy chug with The Velvet Underground and The Beatles being assimilated and mutated. - Brainwashed.com

This album is a monster, a crushing rock album that delivers on every level needed to create really heavy and interesting music. - NoneLouder.com

Harvey Milk rolled through our city of New York (and some other East Coast cities) this month, and reminded us how they kick so much ass and will go down in history as one of the more amazing cult metal bands of our time. At the band's Knitting Factory and Europa shows, Harvey Milk ripped through their arsenal of classic albums, causing their crowd to bang heads in unison w/ their lava-flow-paced heavy-metal assault. Now, as a special favor to their friends in the Hydra Head offices, Harvey Milk has announced they'll be headed to the West Coast to rock folks from LA to Seattle, and everywhere in between, upon returning from their European tour w/ Oxbow. See full tourdates below.

More about Harvey Milk:

After making their auspicious but notoriously underexposed debut with 1994’s My Love Is Higher Than Your Assessment Of What My Love Could Be, Athens (GA) dirge lords Harvey Milk recorded two more full-lengths (1995’s Courtesy And Good Will Towards Men and 1997’s The Pleaser) before going tits up in 1998 in a fit of nuptials and child-rearing.

Reintroduced to the underground at large through reissues, live DVDs and whatnot, The Milk reformed to unleash Special Wishes upon the feverishly lactating public, which has been lactating feverishly ever since. Which is to say that the Milk — as they themselves like to say—have “not” been “canceled due to lack of interest yet.”

Fast forward to the here and, like, now, and Harvey Milk are celebrating their own renaissance by lauding the virtues of The Best Game In Town. Spearheaded by the alternately burly and angelic vocal stylings of Milk mastermind Creston Spiers, The Best Game In Town. is both tumultuous and grueling, resonating with the glorious slow-motion radiance of Total Dirge Power. In layman’s terms: Yet another classic. Oh, and did we mention that they’ve since been joined by Thrones legend Joe Preston? Well, they totally have.



Click to stream all of "Life..." here!

The Best Game In Town Tracklist
Death Goes to the Winner
Decades
After All I’ve Done For You, This Is How You Repay Me?
Skull Sock and Rope Shoes
We Destroy The Family
Motown
A Maelstrom of Bad Decisions
Rose
Barnburner
Goodbye Blues

Harvey Milk Live!

Europe w/ Oxbow
Jul 7 2008 Club Schocken Stuttgart
Jul 8 2008 Festaal Kreuzberg Berlin
Jul 9 2008 Hafenklang Hamburg
Jul 10 2008 Worm Rotterdam
Jul 11 2008 Recyclart Brussel
Jul 12 2008 Supersonic Festival Birmingham
Jul 13 2008 Glasgow Stereo / ABC 2
Jul 14 2008 The Ruby Lounge Manchester
Jul 15 2008 Underworld London
Jul 16 2008 La Maroquinerie Paris
Jul 17 2008 FZW Dortmund
Jul 18 2008 Dour Festival Dour

US West Coast Dates
Jul 22 2008 Rubber Gloves Denton, TX
Jul 23 2008 Red 7 Austin, TX
Jul 25 2008 Solar Culture Tucson, AZ
Jul 26 2008 Relax Bar Hollywood, CA
Jul 27 2008 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, CA
Jul 31 2008 The Funhouse Seattle, WA
Aug 2 2008 Berbati's Portland, OR




For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/harveymilk
www.hydrahead.com

Spin Magazine Reviews Torche's "Meanderthal!"

huge thanks to Joe Gross, Charles Aaron, and the entire Spin Magazine staff!

Lustmord Announces New Album on Hydra Head!

L U S T M O R D
Announces New Album, Other, out July 22nd on Hydra Head!



Heavily treated, producing thick drone textures that alternate between beautiful and scary. - All Music Guide

The dark recesses of psychological trauma through the use of breathless ambience, blinding light and pitch black, textural rumbles and cracks, and sheer blasts of speed and sound. - The Electrogarden Network

Fans of Lustmord know that he is the master of darkness. - Amazon.com

You know that OCD tagline thing we do? The one that goes “______ since 1995?” Well,in regards to Lustmord, the blank could be filled with any number of clever in jokes... but the words “Creeping us out” would generally be darn near the top.

Technically speaking, Lustmord's been creeping out the music world since 1980, prior to joining industrial forefathers SPK. By the time our man started scoring films like 1994’s The Crow, he’d already worked with English experimental luminaries Nurse With Wound, Current 93 and (members of) Coil. His latest collection of night terrors and Lynch-ian atmospherics features guest shots from Adam Jones (Tool), Aaron Turner (Isis) and Buzz Osborne (Melvins). Not too shabby, right? Yeah, that’s what we think too.

More about L U S T M O R D :

In the late 1980’s Lustmord was consultant for Mute Records, assisting in the establishment of their subsidiary label The Grey Area where he compiled a four volume CD collection of Throbbing Gristle live material, and oversaw releases by Throbbing Gristle, SPK and Monte Cazazza. From 1985 until 1999 he owned and managed the label, Side Effects with releases worldwide including SPK and Laibach.

In 2001, Lustmord worked w/ Jarboe on her Dissected album, in '02 it was Mortiis' Smell of Rain, 2004 saw the amazing Lustmord / Melvins Pigs of the Roman Empire collaboration, and between 2005 - today, Lustmord has appeared on all Tool releases (the Schism, Parabola, and Vicarious DVD's, and their 10,000 Days full-length), as well as on all of frontman Maynard's Puscifer releases.

Lustmord is also frequently hired as a freelance sound designer from 1993 to present, including numerous credits on film, games and commercials. Motion picture credits include over forty movies including The Crow, Basketball Diaries, From Dusk Til Dawn, Suicide Kings, Spawn, SFW, Tank Girl, Strange Days, Pitch Black, Crazy Beautiful, Touristas, Vacancy and many many more. Commercials include Nike, Bud Light, Universal Studios and Gatorade and wrote the music for the Greg Hale (Blair Witch Project) series In Search Of.

The Lustmord album Heresy gave birth to the genre known as “Dark Ambient” which also saw collaborations and tours with Clock DVA.

Lustmord also created the music and sound design for the first Tech Demo showing the Playstation 3 capabilities (demo created by Nvidia), and Doom 3 for Xbox.



"Other" Tracklist
1. Testament (6:44)
2. Element (6:49)
3. Godeater (22:42)
4. Dark Awakening (8:24)
5. Ash (4:04)
6. Of Eons (9:12)
7. Prime [Aversion] (12:09)
8. Er Ub Us (8:03)




For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/lustmord
www.hydrahead.com

Pitchfork Reviews Pyramids' Hydra Head Debut!

huge thanks to Adam Moerder, Scott Plagenhoef, and the entire Pitchfork staff!



Pyramids
Pyramids
[Hydra Head; 2008]



Sheesh, as if the unholy matrimony between indie and drone metal hasn't been tested enough lately, here comes another metal outfit using your favorite bands as a Trojan horse before launching into unapologetic post-rock assault. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining over the existence of bands like Denton, Texas' Pyramids (not to be confused with the 60s surf rock and/or screamo bands of the same name), but rather feeling a bit overwhelmed at the sheer amount of ideas to be unpacked from this monster of a debut album. While it's easy to pinpoint the band's contemporaries, there's no confusing any of the material here for Boris, Sunn 0))), or Jesu. Yes, they play up the same prettiness vs. ugliness tensions as those bands, but the lines aren't drawn so clearly, and most reference points deteriorate within seconds.

One Pitchfork staffer compared this debut to "someone disemboweling a Radiohead record," and considering how inchoate this offering is, that's a pretty serviceable point of entry. That said, Pyramids is a much messier affair than simply grafting double-kick bass drums and palm-muted power chords to Kid A. For every skull-rattling series of drones, there's a long expanse of shapeless dream pop, or a thoroughly un-groovable section of cerebral post-rock, or just plain insanity.

Despite each of the 10 tracks here hovering around the three-minute mark, Pyramids have hardly organized their creativity into nice, neat packages. The songs tend to meld together rather than stand as self-contained works. Opener "Sleds", one of the few exceptions to that rule, eases us into the album with a wispy Sigur Rós melody from singer S. Windett. However, once the haunted house moans of "Igloo" take over, there's no getting off the ride. A pesky twin bass drum rears its head at seemingly random points, so arhythmic that even its presence on an ambient no-brainer like "The Echo of Something Lovely" feels unnerving. When Windett's vocals detach themselves from the omnipresent flurry of effects swirls and backwards riffs, the album reaches the kind of peaks you'd expect from a Hydra Head release. "End Resolve", one of the few instances of melodic and rhythmic synergy, sounds like Thom Yorke fronting Pantera. On "This House Is Like Any Other World", Windett unravels what's probably the only sustained vocal melody here, made all the more compelling by its struggle to outshine a thrashing instrumental cacophony.

Although the back half stagnates in nondescript death drones, an accompanying disc of remixes provides a glimpse of Pyramids' potential once they better utilize their ideas. Jesu's remix of "Something Lovely", one of the bonus disc's four re-imaginings of the track, flashes remnants of the Lifeline EP's delicate shoegaze, a useful lesson in understatement. French metal group Blut Aus Nord take fey opener "Sleds" in the opposite direction, slathering the reverb splashes with dirge-like arpeggios and Satanic grunts. As a few botched renderings prove, though, the second disc doesn't fully humble Pyramids, it just trims the fat off areas where they seem hellbent on sabotaging themselves as some sort of post-modernist joke. Sure, they're a very raw talent, but a formidable talent nonetheless, and this record's peaks hint at even greater musical epiphanies to come.

CMJ Reviews SJ Esau's "Small Vessel!"

huge thanks to Matt Kiser and the entire CMJ staff!



SJ ESAU
Small Vessel
(Anticon)



Sam Wisternoff has a penchant for bizarre, though intriguing, theatrics. Take the first "real" track from this Bristol-based experimental indie popster's sophomore release. "Frustrating" stays true to its namesake as the majority of the song is cleverly comprised of half-second samples of voices all humming different notes that are then sequenced to create the herky-jerky melody. It's interesting to be sure, but coupled with a smattering of blips, bloops and other bomps, the follow-up to 2007's Wrong Faced Cat Feed Collapse is at times a blistering indie pop gem and others a lilting, slowcore triumph. Wisternoff builds choral moods through the use of disjointed samples and loops, causing a cacophony of noise that morphs and twists around its orchestrated self, resulting in an oddly dance-y collection of twerpy, disembodied and experimental indie-meets-folk rock.

Tracklist For Small Vessel:

01. -
02. Frustrating
03. Small Vessel
04. Bastard Eyes
05. I Threw A Wobbly
06. Under Certain Things
07. Bubblehead
08. -
09. Ruddy Spark
10. The Small Percent
11. Slate
12. Depth Perception Lack
13. Human Annoyed
14. -
15. What Happen?d

Neuraxis Announce New Album on Prosthetic Records!

Announces New Album The Thin Line Between, Out July 22nd on Prosthetic * Dates on Summer Slaughter Canada Tour w/ Necrophagist, Dying Fetus and More!



Neuraxis certainly flaunts their complexity rather openly at times, blasting through insane speeds and flurries of technical riffs without much concern, but they make up for the almost blinding changes with a lot of shifts in tempo, as well as a healthy dose of far more melodic and tangible riffs that acts as the meat on the bones of the songs. The slightly slower riffs and chord progressions possess more feeling and power, and they balance these elements perfectly with the furious speeds and more typical tremolo picking standards. Mild melodic Swedish riffing seeps in at times, as do some excellent Cynic-isms, but for the most part I'd hold this more in line with Cryptopsy and the like, though I enjoy this far more because the songwriting is much stronger and more energetic. - Aversion Online

Formed in Montreal in 1994, NEURAXIS has forged a unique identity since the band’s inception, combining sheer brutality with unparalleled melodicism and a progressive edge. Over the course of the band’s multiple album career, last year’s live collection, Live Progression, and now, with their fifth studio release, The Thin Line Between, NEURAXIS continues an evolution that began more than 10 years ago and continues to push the boundaries of extreme metal.

The band’s 1997 debut, Imagery, showcased the band's early death/grind approach, while 2001’s A Passage Into Forlorn introduced a more melodic and progressive side of the extreme spectrum of sound that is NEURAXIS. Continuing to evolve and mature, 2002's dizzyingTruth Beyond..., raised the bar yet again. Released in Canada through Galy Records, the US through Willowtip and Europe by means of Earache Records, Truth Beyond... was their catalyst, leading to several tours across North America and Europe alike, in turn cementing NEURAXIS’ place in the live spectrum as a premeir tour de force.

Continuing down the path of masterful musicianship and intense technicality, alongside a keen melodic sheen, NEURAXIS’ 2005 effort, Trilateral Progression, took the band to new heights, gaining them not only critical praise, but notoriety as one of the premiere extreme and technical bands to break out of Canada in recent years. Challenging the technical death metal norms while successfully rejecting the day’s bucking commercial trends, NEURAXIS performed over 150 live shows throughout North America, Europe, and Japan between 2005 and 2007, culminating w/ and documented by Live Progression, (Galy Records) the band's first-ever live album, capturing their break-neck live show for those new to the experience and fans alike.

Now, delving further into their arsenal of technicality and musical finesse, NEURAXIS unleashes The Thin Line Between, the band’s first effort for new home Prosthetic Records. Featuring the studio recording debuts of new vocalist Alex Leblanc and guitarist William Seghers, The Thin Line Between establishes NEURAXIS as a strong contender for the crown of Canada’s next leading technical death metal outfit. Drawing a line and spreading the distance between themselves and their contemporaries, NEURAXIS has written the band’s most brutal and ambitious effort to date without losing their trademark sense of melody and the progressive tinge that has given the band its signature sound.

Recorded by Jeff Fortin (ANONYMUS) in February and March of this year, The Thin Line Between features guest vocals from Luc Lemay (GORGUTS) and album artwork courtesy of Dennis Sibejin (CHIMAIRA, JOB FOR A COWBOY).



Tracklisting for The Thin Line Between:
01. Darkness Prevails
02. Wicked
03. Versus
04. Deviation Occurs
05. The Thin Line Between
06. Dreaming The End
07. Standing Despite...
08. Oracle
09. Phoenix
10. The All And The Nothing

Neuraxis Live!
Jul 19 2008 LSQ Metalfest Lebel Sur Quevillon, Quebec w/ Martyr & Descend Into Nothingness

Summer Slaughter Canada Tour w/ Necrophagist, Dying Fetus and more!
Aug 14 2008 Imperial Quebec, Quebec
Aug 15 2008 Club Soda Montreal, Quebec
Aug 16 2008 Opera House Toronto, Quebec
Aug 18 2008 Kilroys Thunder Bay, Ontario
Aug 19 2008 Garrick Centre Winnipeg, Manitoba
Aug 20 2008 Riddell Centre Regina, Saskatchewan
Aug 21 2008 Warehouse Calgary, Alberta
Aug 22 2008 Starlite Edmonton, Alberta
Aug 23 2008 Roll A Dome Prince George, British Columbia
Aug 25 2008 Commodore Ballroom Vancouver, British Columbia



For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/neuraxis
www.prostheticrecords.com

Torche Kickoff US Tour w/ Boris TONIGHT!

Kickoff US Tour w/ Boris TONIGHT!



Maybe it's the bunker-thick wall of sludge, maybe it's the doomy undertow, or maybe it's the hair-farming guitar whiz and gay frontman (peace to Judas Priest), but Torche aren't really a metal band, certainly not the pleasureless Ozzy kind, not with riffs this gloriously anthemic. Meanderthal is guitar pop for those who wish Foo Fighters had a pre-sellout period. The super chunky "Grenades," "Healer," and "Across the Shields" thrash out hefty hooks so flawless that Josh Homme just woke up in a cold sweat. - Joe Gross, Spin Magazine July 2008

Two months after the release of Torche's landmark, and critically acclaimed new album, Meanderthal (Hydra Head), and just off tour w/ Metallica-bros, The Sword, Torche is set to take on the mighty US of A once again as they embark on a seven-week, coast-to-coast trek around the country with none other than the mightiest of mighty, Japan's sonic wet-dream-come-true, Boris. Lock your doors, protect your loved ones, or jump directly into the fucking pit, because this is going to be unlike any tour that's happened since that time GNR, Metallica and Faith No More all hit the road together... man that was awesome.

More on Torche's "Meanderthal"

One night some months ago we had a dream that one of our favorite bands would be on one of our favorite labels and together would release one of the most satisfying records in the history of forever. And the heavens would part, the Billboard charts would collapse under the sheer sonic awesomeness, and the world would become a better place — a place where everyone had free health care and a money tree in their backyard and a hot trophy wife or strapping young houseboy or whatever. And that band, ladies and gentlemen, was Torche.

And wouldn’t you know it, that shit totally came true (we’re waiting on the health care, the money tree, the houseboy and the Billboard thing, but still). And that record is Meanderthal. Call it the band’s second official full-length (entrusted to us by our good friends at Robotic Empire) and follow-up to last year’s six-song mini-epic In Return. Call it the latest and greatest bomb-string stoner pop/thunder rock/doom pop classic from Torche mastermind Steve Brooks and his fellow hook heroes. Call it the sweetest, catchiest, hugest riff colossus since Sky Valley. Shit, call it Album Of The Year if you want. That’s what we’re going with, anyway.



Stream all of Meanderthal here!

Meanderthal Tracklist
1. Triumph of Venus
2. Grenades
3. Piranha
4. Sandstorm
5. Speed of the Nail
6. Healer
7. Across the Shields
8. Sundown
9. Little Champion
10. Without A Sound
11. Fat Waves
12. Amnesian
13. Meanderthal

Torche Live!

w/ Boris!!!!
Jun 24 2008 Casbah San Diego, California
Jun 25 2008 The Clubhouse Tempe, Arizona
Jun 27 2008 Rubber Gloves Denton, Texas
Jun 28 2008 The Mohawk Austin, Texas
Jun 29 2008 White Rabbit San Antonio, Texas
Jul 1 2008 Spanish Moon Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jul 2 2008 Common Grounds Gainesville, Florida
Jul 3 2008 The Social Orlando, Florida
Jul 5 2008 The Earl Atlanta, Georgia
Jul 6 2008 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro, North Carolina
Jul 8 2008 Black Cat Washington DC, Washington DC
Jul 9 2008 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jul 10 2008 Webster Hall New York, New York
Jul 11 2008 The Middle East Cambridge, Massachusetts
Jul 12 2008 La Sala Rosa Montreal, Quebec
Jul 13 2008 Barrymore Ottawa, Ontario
Jul 14 2008 Lee’s Place Toronto, Ontario
Jul 15 2008 Tralf Buffalo, New York
Jul 16 2008 Grog Shop Cleveland, Ohio
Jul 17 2008 Diesel Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Jul 18 2008 St Andrews Hall Detroit, Michigan
Jul 19 2008 Turner Hall Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Jul 20 2008 The Empty Bottle Chicago, Illinois (no Boris)
Jul 22 2008 The Waiting Room Omaha, Nebraska
Jul 23 2008 Granada Theater Lawrence, Kansas
Jul 25 2008 Marquis Theater Denver, Colorado
Jul 26 2008 Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, Utah
Jul 29 2008 Neumo’s Seattle, Washington
Jul 30 2008 Richard’s on Richards Cabaret Vancouver, British Columbia
Jul 31 2008 Hawthorne Theater Portland, Oregon
Aug 1 2008 Tonic Bar Reno, California (No Boris)
Aug 2 2008 Great American Music Hall San Francisco, California
Aug 3 2008 Echoplex Los Angeles, California




For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/torche
www.hydrahead.com

Cancer Bats Release and Stream "Hail Destroyer" Today on Black Market Activities!

Release and Stream Hail Destroyer Today on Black Market Activities!



The young Canadian cats in the Cancer Bats pummel with new-school hardcore, old-school punk, and dirty NOLA metal. Full of youthful energy and great chops, their second full-length never sounds forced, and the first two tracks alone kick more ass than most bands' entire discographies. - Revolver Magazine

The Great White North gives us a blast of pummeling riffs and jagged tempos as Toronto's own Cancer Bats gear up for the release of their much awaited sophomore full length Hail Destroyer on Black Market Activities. Hail Destroyer sees Cancer Bats mature sonically and evolving as they incorporate the past, present of hardcore while they pave out its future.

From the fury of proto punk acts like Black Flag and Minor Threat as they tip their hats to the indie-core legends of the late 80's and early 90's such as Fugazi, Drive Like Jehu and Jawbox and remain cut from a somewhat similarly coarse cloth of today's movers and shakers in the realm of post-hardcore such as Young Widows, Pissed Jeans and Fucked Up to name a few. Make no mistake as Cancer Bats aren't here to be lumped into a pigeonhole as their charging riffs and blaring anthem-like hooks ample for fist pumping and whirlpool circle pits perches them on a wholly unique level.

Swooping like a rabid bat out of, uh, Canada, Cancer Bats give a rowdy anddefiant clobbering to the eardrums all the way down to the bone. Consider yourself warned as we aren't responsible for anything broken or destroyed within earshot of whatever stereo this album is playing from.



Stream all of "Hail Destroyer" on Decoymusic.com!

Hail Destroyer Tracklist
1. Hail Destroyer
2. Harem Of Scorpions
3. Deathsmarch
4. Regret
5. Bastard's Waltz
6. Sorceress
7. Lucifer's Rocking Chair
8. Let It Pour
9. Smiling Politely
10. Pray For Darkness
11. PMA 'Til I'm DOA
12. Zed's Dead Baby



Cancer Bats Live!

Europe:
Jun 29 2008 SCENE FEST St. Catharines, Ontario

US w/ Bullet For My Valentine and Bleeding Through!
Jul 14 2008 Milwaukee, WI The Rave
Jul 15 2008 Chicago, IL House Of Blues
Jul 16 2008 Minneapolis, MN The Myth
Jul 19 2008 Billings, MT The Shrine
Jul 21 2008 Spokane, WA The Big Easy
Jul 22 2008 Seattle The Sodo
Jul 23 2008 Portland The Roseland
Jul 24 2008 Sacramento, CA The Boardwalk (* NO BFMV)
Jul 25 2008 Los Angeles The Wiltern
Jul 26 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
Jul 27 2008 San Diego House of Blues
Jul 29 2008 Phoenix, AZ The Marquee
Jul 31 2008 Dallas, TX House of Blues
Aug 1 2008 Houston Verizon Wireless Center
Aug 2 2008 Austin, TX Stubbs
Aug 5 2008 Baltimore TheRams Head
Aug 6 2008 Atlantic City, NJ House of Blues
Aug 7 2008 Lemoyne, PA The Championship (* NO BFMV)
Aug 8 2008 NYC Hammerstein Ballroom
Aug 9 2008 Hampton Beach Hampton Beach Casino
Aug 10 Holyoke Waterfront Tavern (* NO BFMV)
Aug 11 208 Montreal The Metropolis
Aug 12 Toronto The Kool Haus
Aug 13 Dayton, OH The Attic (* NO BFMV)
Aug 14 Cleveland, OH House of Blues
Aug 15 Grand Rapids, MI The Orbit Room
Aug 16 Detroit, MI State Theatre

UK Festivals
Aug 23 2008 READING FESTIVAL LOCK UP STAGE Reading
Aug 24 2008 LEEDS FESTIVAL LOCK UP STAGE LEEDS



For more information, visit:
www.mysapce.com/cancerbats
www.blackmarketactivities.com

SJ Esau Releases New Album Today on Anticon!

SJ Esau
Releases New Album, Small Vessel, Today on Anticon * UK Dates w/ WHY? and Sole!



Think of him as a British Beck - Prefix

Depth Perception Lack" is the sample track, which comes late album but is actually a great intro point for the record, if only for the easy weaving of myriad ideas SJ stacks into the song's three-and-change minutes. "You know something I don't know" is the somehow cheery theme, chanted as the grooves shift, the instrumentation sprawls, voices joining in and dropping. It's a mini-epic of passages, swells, and climaxes, a lot like the record it belongs to. - Stereogum

It’s thrilling, as good an advertisement as any for Wisternoff as mad genius producer. - Paper Thin Walls

On his second album for Anticon, Bristolian rock collagist SJ Esau, or Sam Wisternoff, tightens his playful, genre-bounding compositions even as he brings in a cast of collaborators to amplify his singular vision. While 2006’s Wrong Faced Cat Feed Collapse smartly played to its own contrasts, Small Vessel melds its diverse moods and styles into a buoyant, bold and cohesive whole, making for an album both utterly post-modern and curiously epic despite its humble means.

From a tics-and-all series of vocal drills chopped into rhythmic bits, “Frustrating” is born. The album’s first song quickly congeals into cresting waves of orchestral pop by way of little more than guitars and drums, with Sam spinning humorous images about obsessive behavior in his lilting croon (the chorus triumphantly promising to ring “Pavlov’s bell ’til the dog dehydrates”). Everything plays bigger and brighter this time, with even the 18-second title track sounding grandly choral as it runs up against the bouncing pastoral sounds of the turntable- and viola-laden “Bastard Eyes.” “I Threw A Wobbly” tosses bells, trumpet, soloing guitar and what sounds like the disembodied bark of Cee-Lo Green into the Wisternoff blender, and somehow it all comes out smooth and near danceable. Next, “Under Certain Things” lays down a warm, slowing bedrock of static and acoustics, as Sam and Charlotte Nichols (who also plays cello here, and on Portishead’s latest) sing about what could be bugs hiding under bricks, but what feels like some fleeting aspect of the human condition. And on “Bubblehead,” Sam belts out the woes of a claustrophobic shut-in over surging, sample-strewn folk.

Small Vessel is full of songs that are wholly pretty without shying from their disparate origins, and lyrics that loom large even as they focus on earthly details. A musical accomplishment in under two minutes, “Ruddy Spark” begins in collage, breaks into Fog-like, hard jazz-inflected rock, and closes in a blaze of surf-punk, while “Depth Perception Lack” builds a miniature mountain out of a typewriter beat, propulsive guitars, an unexpected Mt. Eerie-style chorus of ominous voices, and barroom piano. And though “Human Annoyed,” which plays like a sunnier Aidan Moffat B-side, never identifies the source of its internal angst, and “Slate” lobs comedic jabs at an unnamed offender, SJ’s wry outlook is relatable, even inviting.

After a final interlude of wordless, stark sound collage, closer “What Happened” begins with a slow strum. As the song unfolds into an unhurried pop, Sam sings, “I thought it was some kind of a plan/I thought and I thought/Some kind of design I had/But I forgot, I forgot.” He doesn’t sound wistful or worried, and he shouldn’t. This is what SJ Esau does best: plowing through sounds, moods and impulses, separating, sorting and piling until there’s a fully fleshed and cockeyed composition grinning at his back. Thus, Small Vessel stands on its own two feet, as Sam Wisternoff’s carry him off into the muddled sunset.



Tracklist for Small Vessel
1. -
2. Frustrating
3. Small Vessel
4. Bastard Eyes
5. I Threw A Wobbly
6. Under Certain Things
7. Bubblehead
8. -
9. Ruddy Spark
10. The Small Percent
11. Slate
12. Depth Perception Lack
13. Human Annoyed
14. -
15. What Happen'd

SJ Esau Live!
Jun 24 2008 The Cellar Oxford with Sole and Jonquil
Jun 25 2008 Music Box Manchester with Sole and Bracken
Jun 26 2008 The Croft Bristol with Sole
Jun 27 2008 Brighton Freebutt Brighton with Sole
Jun 30 2008 Cargo London with Why?
Jul 2 2008 Bodega Nottingham with Why?
Jul 3 2008 Faversham Leeds with Why?
Jul 4 2008 Roadhouse Manchester with Why?
Jul 22 2008 The Croft Bristol with Why?



For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/sjesau
www.anticon.com

Pitchfork Forkcast: Team Robespierre "This Feels Perfect!"

huge thanks to Mark Richardson and the entire Pitchfork staff!



New Music: Team Robespierre: "This Feels Perfect" [MP3/Stream]



What a band like Brooklyn's Team Robespierre or Matt and Kim offers is a space where all this spazzy adolescent goofiness feels good, perfect even. Dig the nomenclature: Everything's Perfect, Team R's debut LP, and now "This Feels Perfect", off the five-piece's Bad Habit 7". The song's got more synths, more energetic drums, and a (relatively) lush, fist-pumping chorus where the hi-hat settles into eighth notes. The dueling vocalists bring another set of stuff to shout along to till your voice goes hoarse enough to get you sent to the nurse's office tomorrow-- about wanting to go down to Virginia to see friends, about how I'm not necessarily right and you're not necessarily wrong, but goddamn. Stuff like that. Shit kicks into a pop-punk double-time for the song's conclusion. Perfect enough: "You and I can be the things that feel good, yeah."

MP3:> Team Robespierre: "This Feels Perfect"[from the "Bad Habit" 7"; out now on Impose]

Team Robespierre Live!

F YEAH FEST DATES
(all with TEAM ROBESPIERRE, MATT & KIM, DEATH SET and MONOTONIX except where noted)
June 20: ATLANTA, GA – Whirly Ball Atlanta
June 21: BIRMINGHAM, AL – The Bottletree
June 22: GAINESVILLE, FL – The Atlantic
June 23: TAMPA, FL – Transitions Art Gallery / Skatepark
June 25: BATON ROUGE, LA – The Spanish Moon
June 26: HOUSTON, TX – Walters
June 27: AUSTIN, TX – The Mohawk
June 28: FORT WORTH, TX – 1919 Hemphill
June 30: ST. LOUIS, MO - Bluebird
July 1: IOWA CITY, IA – The Mill
July 2: MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Triple Rock
July 3: CHICAGO, IL – Stan Mansion
July 4: KALAMAZOO, MI – TBA
July 5: COLUMBUS, OH – The Sky
July 6: BUFFALO, NY – Sound Lab
July 7: TORONTO, ON
July 8: OTTAWA, QC – TBA
July 9: MONTREAL, QC – La Sala Rossa
July 10: BOSTON, MA – TBA
July 11: PHILADELPHIA, PA – Starlight Ballrrom**
July 12: NEW YORK, NY – Highline Ballroom***
July 13: BROOKLYN, NY – Club Exit***
*with DAN DEACON
**with CIRCLE JERKS, DILLINGER FOUR, PAINT IT BLACK
***with CIRCLE JERKS, DILLINGER FOUR

Also:
July 20: BROOKLYN – McCarren Park Pool w/ LIARS & FUCK BUTTONS

RCRD LBL Premiers New Takka Takka Track "Silence!"

huge thanks to Faith-Ann Young and the entire RCRD LBL staff!



EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOAD: Takka Takka - Silence



Many of you have probably heard down the indie blog chain that Takka Takka is coming out with a new album in July. Considering that Gabe Levine says he was influenced by his mother's becoming a Pamanku, a Balinese holy person amongst other things for the album, you may be curious what it sounds like. (One hint: there is a Balinese Gamelan involved). So here we bring you a special preview.

There's something eerily zen about "Silence." It builds up a platform of snare drum and distorted guitar - over which Levine's vocals flow in a wave-like fashion. "Taker" also has undulating rhythm, accompanied by shimmering instrumentals and a poppier beat progression. Both exude a peacefulness- offering reprieve from a day of cacophony in the city.

Produced by Sean Greenhalgh of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, recorded in Brooklyn, the album features Bryan Devendorf of The National, Lee Sargent of CYHSY, Olga Bell of Bell, and Charles Burst and should be out late July.

SOUNDS LIKE: MEW, The Talking Heads, The National

Exclusive Download: Takka Takka - Silence

Heavy Heavy Low Low Announce new Album(s)!

Announce New Album, Turtle Nipple and the Toxic Shock, Out August 19th on New Weathermen * Self-Ttiled, Digital-Only EP out June 24th!



Forget everything you thought you knew about Heavy
Heavy Low Low.

On August 19th HHLL will release "Turtle Nipple and the Toxic Shock" a record that is bound to be a pinnacle of their recording career. Taking the direction of, but not limited to an early release on SST, Dischord, or Touch and Go, HHLL thrives on a formula of minimalist punk energy, choppy tempos and the most bastardized take on prog rock you‚ve probably ever heard. With sprinkles of glitchy keyboards, slabs of noisecore and frantic lyrics tossed in the mix, Turtle Nipple will get the rocks off for HHLL's endless legions of fans and usher in a throng of new ones.

When asked to describe the band's current direction, drummer Christopher Fritter states "I'd say this new CD brings my mind to another level. At times I just want to cry while listening to it. Then randomly I just want to hit a fool in the face." Spoken like a true craftsman who took part in creating this bipolar cacophony of an album. Yes, it will mess with your head but it'll prove to be the most exhilarating mind fuck you'll probably ever have.



Tracklist for Toxic Shock:
1. Hahahahahahaha
2. Giant Mantis VS. TURT nip
3. How Many Dad's Must Eat Themselves?
4. 3000, 100 Points, 100pts, Gummy Octopi
5. H.D.EYE Hybrid Cyborg
6. Trot Line Beer Can
7. The Toxic Shock Mountain Blues
8. R4TB3LLY
9. Eagle Mewnadria
10. Supernova Ninja Surfers
11. Is This Your Homework?
12. Green Genes
13. Wasted (Black Flag Cover)
14. Rotten Church / Mall / Parking Lot
15. Please, That Bitch Will Outlive us All
Secret Track - Longterm Exposure, Short Term Damage

Also, coming on June 24th is a self-titled digital-only EP that will feature 2 new songs along with the "Fuck It" EP that was never released digitally.



HEAVY HEAVY LOW LOW "Heavy Heavy Low Low"
Digital Only release June 24, 2008

1. H.D.EYE Hybrid Cyborg
2. Wasted (Black Flag Cover)
3. Are You Ok Kiddo? (F**k It Version)
4. Inhalent Abuse
5. Pizza Party
6. Tragic Tragic Track Jacket
7. Texas Chainsaw Mascer-Uh (F**k It Version)
8. Tell Shannon Her Crafts Are Ready

Heavy Heavy Low Low Live!
July 11th @ Dance Unlimited Morgan Hill, CA



For more information, visit:
www.myspace.com/heavyheavylowlow
www.ferretstyle.com

dälek MC Launches deadverse recordings!

dälek MC to Start Record Label!



"I basically started deadverse recordings because I know of too many great musicians with amazing albums, obviously some of which I have been lucky enough to work on musically as well, that were not seeing the light of day. During my recording career, I've been blessed to work with incredibly fair and artist-friendly labels like Ipecac, Hydrahead, and Public Guilt. I hope to model deadverse recordings after those labels and provide a place for artists and their creations to call home. deadverse recordings was founded as a home for real music by the illest musicians out there. Never mind genre, to quote Phil Spector, "there are only two kinds of music... good and bad!" We here at deadverse recordings only work with the first kind." - MC dälek

deadverse recordings' first release, due out November 2008, is ODDATEEE's "HALFWAY HOMELESS," 12 hard-hitting tracks from the underbelly of hip hop, coming straight from the edge of insanity! ODDATEEE's stream of conscience flow taps into his fears, angers, and frustrations. Backed by production by dälek himself, Komplx, Digital Unicorn, and cuts by dj Motiv, ODDATEEE bounces from the dark gritty streets to the old school vibe of abandoned building party joints.

HALFWAY HOMELESS is a paranoid ride through the mind of this Hip Hop Maestro/Madman. If you love that Boom Bap with a twist of insanity, you will love ODDATEEE... and you NEED "HALFWAY HOMELESS." The album's first single, "RICANS," is a new anthem for Puerto Ricans and old school Hip Hop/ Electro fans alike.

The Deadverse Recordings website will be launching shortly.

For more information, visit:
www.deadverserecordings.com
www.myspace.com/deadverserecordings

Pitchfork Reviews Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till's Latest!

huge thanks to Cosmo Lee, Scott Plagenhoef, and the entire Pitchfork staff!



Scott Kelly / Steve Von Till
The Wake / A Grave Is a Grim Horse
[Neurot; 2008]



As metal approaches its fourth decade of existence, it raises the question of what metallers do when they get old. With the help of Viagra, 62 year-old Lemmy of Motörhead is still going strong. Judas Priest's Rob Halford, 56, and Iron Maiden's Bruce Dickinson, almost 50, remain in top shape, vocally and career-wise. Ozzy Osbourne, on the other hand, is showing all of, if not more than, his 59 years. Whether relying on past glories or attempting to fashion new ones, these veterans are still enacting the young man's role that they created: bringing the thunder.

Neurosis' Scott Kelly and Steve Von Till have followed a more organic path: turning down the volume. Neurosis are 23 years old, and their discography has progressed accordingly. Once born of concrete, the band became born of earth. Early recordings of savage hardcore punk gave way to varied experimentation-- metal, industrial, tribal, electronic-- and a gravitas that only comes with age. Later records have been exercises in maximal minimalism, shaping deceptively simple ingredients into textural edifices. Yet they're full of space and nakedness. Neurosis' songs require patience, with long periods of brooding before big, bloody payoffs. Kelly and Von Till's solo acoustic careers are really not that different from Neurosis. They're quieter, of course, but they simply distill the band's concerns-- earth, wind, fire, soul-- to their barest essences. Music need not sound heavy to be heavy.

Kelly's The Wake relies heavily on this principle. It's mostly just his voice and guitar. The former is appealingly husky, while the latter is starkly minimal. This pairing yields a beauty that's a little bare sometimes. Despite their transparent presentation, the lyrics are oblique: "The patterns bring truth/ The stars bring vengeance/ The reasons unknown/ There is no why." Such abstraction can feel wispy, though at times Kelly's guitar gives the songs meat. "The Searcher" has a dramatic ascending riff that could be metal if amplified, while "Catholic Blood" is like a slow-motion version of Tom Petty's "Wildflowers". "Saturn's Eye" is sturdier due to counterpoint, as a distorted lap steel guitar keens over Kelly's dirge-like strumming. It's a distant wolf with a fire nearby, and it's shiver-inducing.

Von Till's folk is much more full-bodied due to diverse instrumentation. On A Grave Is a Grim Horse, he girds his acoustic guitar with electric guitar, banjo, fiddle, cello, drums, and Hammond organ. The result is a lucid, Nick Drake-esque setting subtly crowned with electricity. Von Till also benefits from covering some masters: Drake, Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett. However, his songs more than stand on their own. The alt-country lament of "Looking for Dry Land" could have come from Red House Painters. Pedal steel guitar gently weeps in the twangy "Western Son". "Brigit's Cross" alternates crackling electric chords with plaintive fiddle lines. A quavering organ illuminates "The Acre", which instructs, "You must work with the acre you are given." Von Till's not just speaking in metaphor. He moved from the Bay Area to a rural life in Idaho; A Grave is the happy result of a metaller being literally put out to pasture.