RCRD LBL Spotlights New Music from La Dispute!

DOWNLOAD: La Dispute - How I Feel + First Snow In Grand Rapids



The Midwest's La Dispute has posted on its site some lines from an excellent John Berryman poem. There is little more you could do to woo me, aside from offering up a track to a for-charity Christmas album and putting out two of the most lyrically engaging records of the past year.

(((Read more and download music here!)))

The Giraffes Announce Final Show w/ Frontman Aaron Lazar, February 5th at The Mercury Lounge in New York

On Saturday, February 5th at Midnight, longtime Brooklyn surf-metal mischief-makers THE GIRAFFES take the stage of the Mercury Lounge for an extended set of songs, drawing from the entirety of the band’s career thus far. The show will be the last to feature heart-attack-addled singer Aaron Lazar, who is amicably abdicating the mic after ten years.

But, this departure does not spell the end of the band, as THE GIRAFFES are currently in the process of auditioning new singers to fill Mr. Lazar’s estimable motorcycle boots.

In addition, THE GIRAFFES have begun producing a weekly podcast, available on their website, containing a mix of previously unreleased tracks, instrumental demos of new material, and NC-17 updates on the state of the band. The podcasts can be found at thegiraffes.com, and are available free through iTunes.

Crustacean Records will release THE GIRAFFES' previously-unreleased full-length album RULED, the band’s most audacious disc to date, in hard copy and available for download on iTunes in March. Heady, heavy, dense, tense and unpredictable, fans of the band’s shout-along choruses and punishing rhythms, razor-sharp wit, and guitar pyrotechnics will find this to be their greatest work. Newcomers will have the perfect introduction to the band in all their volatile glory. RULED is the last studio release Lazar recorded with THE GIRAFFES before announcing his departure.

* Check back frequently to thegiraffes.com for routine updates on the status of the band.

The Giraffes Live!
Saturday, February 5th @ The Mercury Lounge New York, NY (Last Show w/ Singer Aaron Lazar) tickets

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

The Forms Premiere New Song feat Matt Berninger of The National + Dates w/ The Dismemberment Plan!

Listen: The Forms With the National's Frontman
New York duo teams with Matt Berninger for "Fire to the Ground"



On February 15, Threespheres/Ernest Jenning will release Derealization, new EP from New York indie duo the Forms. On this EP, the group reworks some musical ideas from their previous releases, accompanied by an impressive supporting cast. Shudder to Think's Craig Wedren and Pattern Is Movement's Andrew Thiboldeaux contribute guest vocals, and up above, you can download "Fire to the Ground", which features the National's Matt Berninger. (Check out "Steady Hand", featuring Thiboldeaux, over at Stereogum.) The EP also features a string section that includes members of Dirty Projectors and St. Vincent.

The Forms Live!
1/28 Boston, MA @ Paradise w/ Dismemberment Plan
2/12 Brooklyn, NY @ Rock Shop - Record Release Party
2/17 Pittsburgh, PA @ Lava Lounge
2/19 Cincinnati, OH @ Southgate House
2/20 Chicago, IL @ Metro w/ Dismemberment Plan
2/21 Chicago, IL @ Empty Bottle
2/22 Ann Arbor, MI @ Arbor Vitae
2/23 Milwaukee, WI @ Mad Planet
2/24 Daytrotter Session
2/24 Madison, WI @ Project Lodge
2/26 Omaha, NE @ Barley Street
2/28 Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
3/2 Nashville, TN @ The End
3/4 Chapel Hill, NC @nightlight
3/12-13 New Orleans, LA @ Foburg Music Festival
3/16-19 Austin, TX @ SXSW

+ More Dates Coming Soon!

(((Read more and download the new track here!)))

Native Announce West Coast Dates w/ RX Bandits and Fake Problems

Clearly growing up under the influence of classic post-punk bands like Fugazi and Shellac, Native have succeeded in forging something original from the discordant madness of those bands and the catchy, intricate guitar interplay of '90s Midwest staples like Braid and American Football. - Exclaim Canada

Being this EP is close to a year old and about to enter its fourth pressing or so, I imagine we might get something new from the band later this year. If We Delete; Erase is any indication, it's something to look forward to. - Punknews.org

It lands somewhere between a pissed off Minus the Bear and a caged up Botch. - Surfing Magazine

Native’s self-released debut EP, We Delete; Erase, has been recently unleashed online, and their fresh, confident sound is filling their listeners with hope for some great things to come. - CMJ

Sargent House recording artists Native will set out on a series of US tour dates kicking off later this month and extending into February 2011, in support of their latest album "Wrestling Moves," and will be joined by fellow label mates RX Bandits and Side One Dummy artists Fake Problems.

The band is also giving away their critically acclaimed debut EP "We Delete; Erase" for free this week only (fans can download the record here) and look out for more dates to be announced for their March tour with Mylene Sheath recording artists Caspian that will end at SXSW.

Native Live
Jan 15 - Valparaiso, IN @ BlackBird Cafe
Jan 17 - St Louis, MO @ Lemp Art Center
Jan 18 - Oklahoma City, OK @ The Conservatory w/ Fake Problems
Jan 20 - Flagstaff, AZ @ Orpheum Theatre **
Jan 21 - Las Vegas, NV @ Hard Rock Cafe - Vegas Strip **
Jan 22 - Anaheim, CA @ House of Blues **
Jan 23 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo w/ Fake Problems (AA early show)
Jan 26 - Santa Barbara, CA @ UCSB Storke Plaza at NOON - Free open to public
Jan 27 - San Luis Obispo, CA @ SLO Brewing Company **
Jan 28 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill **
Jan 29 - San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill **
Feb 01 - Mesa, AZ @ The Undergeround w/ St Ranger
Feb 03- Austin, TX @ Red 7 w/ Brother Ghost & Pswingset
Feb 04- Fort Worth, TX @ 1919 Hemphill
Feb 18 -Indianapolis, IN @ The Hoosier Dome

** = w/ RX Bandits & Fake Problems



For more information, visit:
native.bandcamp.com
www.sargenthouse.com

follow Sargent House at
twitter.com/sargenthouse

The Associated Press Names New Into It. Over It. / Koji Split An Overlooked / Best Album on 2010

Into It. Over It. / Koji, "IIOI/KOJI" (No Sleep)



Best friends and singer songwriters Evan Thomas Weiss and Andrew Koji Shiraki pulled off a wonderful musical mind-meld on their split release album, "IIOI/KOJI." Each man handled one side of the album that is filled with heartfelt rock songs that proved both cohesive and candid.

(((Read the full review on Yahoo here!)))

(((Read the full review on ABCNews.com here!)))

Wires Under Tension Partner w/ Ableton Software For New Live Packs

Watch the new video for "Mnemonics In Motion" here!

Bronx duo Wires Under Tension play a fluttering post-'90s post-rock churn without the introspection or meandering--in essence, they go in for the kill. Like Tortoise fueled by Hot 97, the cycling minimalist rhythms of violinist Christopher Tignor and drummer Theo Metz (both of YIMBY vets Slow Six) are more a suckerpunch than a slow boil, aiming straight for the chiming, resonant and anthemic in five-minute bites. The songs on their debut album, Light Science (due February 8 on Western Vinyl), explode with multi-layered walls of strings, Eyvind Kang-informed horn lines, and all sorts of digital love--all held down by the roiling and naked drumming of Metz. First taste "Mnemonics In Motion" is more music than two men should reasonably be able to make at once, Tignor's violins going through a gauntlet of funhouse mirrors while Metz holds down a devilishly funky groove. - The Village Voice

South Bronx duo Wires Under Tension have partnered with music software developers Ableton to bring the band's fans and technology's users a free Live Pack to ring in the New Year. Their "live pack" includes all the sounds, instruments and programming used to create their new remix "Bronx Science." Built from material from their forthcoming debut "Light Science," Ableton users can now tweak the track out for themselves. Using pitch shifted violins, fractured drum breaks, and pulsating electronic filters, they've invented a neo hip-hop landscape which celebrates the energy of their home turf. Named after the public high school, "Bronx Science" is a lesson in new-school instrumental alchemy with an addictive urban bounce.

Be on the lookout for the new Wires Under Tension mp3 created using the Ableton technology premiering soon. Tignor describes the experience: "The cold snap has arrived here in the Bronx. Feral cats huddle together for warmth beneath old Chevys. It was on such a winter's day that I began experimenting with the violin loops that I record live while playing the song "Wood, Metal, Bone" off the new Wires.Under.Tension record Light Science. This violin technique, known as bariolage, makes use of high-energy string crossings to create melodic arcs which convey the very essence of the instrument. That song gets a lot of practice because the technique is challenging, but more importantly, all that bowing is a great way to keep warm down here in my underground studio.

We're always looking to get the instrumentally idiomatic to speak in new tongues. By taking these samples and subjecting them to some automated transformations, a sort of neo hip-hop flavor fell out. Using drum samples taken off another track, "Mnemonics in Motion" played by Wires.Under.Tension's better half, Theo Metz, these fantastic, off-kilter hi-hat grooves arrived. The core sounds of the band then all found their way in: digitally extended glockenspiel melodies, punchy brass hits and even some overdriven clavinet. Theo and I were impressed at how the whole thing uncannily expressed the vibe of my newfound neighborhood and in a nod to the public high school of the same name, "Bronx Science" was born.

I've divided the song up into many finely grained scenes. In each scene name, you'll see the number of bars that I let each last before moving on. Of course, feel free to linger or hurry as you like or skip the script entirely.

So season's greetings and enjoy. Maybe take a break between meals to reinvent what you can do with strings, drums and the rest. You've earned it. And if living as a musician has taught me anything, it's that to keep pushing what excites you is to keep warm."

* Fans can download the free Ableton Live Pack here. Wires Under Tension's debut album, "Light Science," will be released on February 8th on Western Vinyl.



Light Science Track List
1. Electricity Turns Them On
2. Irreversible Machines
3. A List of Things To Light on Fire
4. Wood, Metal, Bone
5. Position and Hold
6. Mnemonics in Motion
7. Сказал, Сказала

Wires Under Tension Live Dates Coming Soon!



For more information, visit:
www.wiresundertension.com
www.westernvinyl.com

NPR's All Songs Considered Names Harvey Milk and Pyramids "Best of 2010"

2010's Best Metal And Outer Sound
(2.) Harvey Milk, 'A Small Turn Of Human Kindness'



A Small Turn of Human Kindness is like one long, depressing joke. But as Harvey Milk albums tend to go, it's the longest the Athens, Ga., trio has gone without cracking up. From what I can gather, it's a story about a broken man and the potential for grace, but Creston Spiers wrangles every ugly memory out of his guitar and howls at every gaping wound in what might be the sludgy Southern rock band's most fulfilling album yet.


The Best Cassettes Of 2010
(3.) Pyramids, 'Wvndrkmmer'



R. Loren has a penchant for large-scale collaboration. In 2010 alone, the musicians involved in two of his projects -- Sailors With Wax Wings and White Moth -- read like a dream-list of metal, drone and ambient music. But with Wvndrkmmer, he outdid himself. Spread over five cassettes and six hours of music, 52 drone, ambient and noise artists were selected to remix, reinterpret and rework audio segments by his avant-metal band Pyramids. No two tracks are alike, yet all convey the unique sound-world of the Denton, Texas-based band. Key contributors include Nicholas Szczepanik, Exit in Grey, Jeremy Bible, Josh Lay, Wicked Messenger and Windy & Carl.