have you met MAGISTRATES? 05 Sep 2008

MAGISTRATES are a young band from the Essex section of Britain and they have been pretty buzzy over there. XL Recordings will release a full-length album by them in early 2009. They have some catchy influences too, which you can figure out yourself once you listen, but they have come up with a pretty distinctive sound.

Check out "Make This Work" by these adorable young Brits, and your weekend will be off to a great start! It will have your head shaking and you'll probably be singing along before the chorus even comes in!

http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com/mp3/Magistrates_Make_This_Work.mp3

The Veils US Tour Starts TONIGHT! 04 Sep 2008

The Veils are kicking off their US tour supporting Liam Finn TONIGHT at NYC's Bowery Ballroom!

The London based quartet (singer/guitarist Finn Andrews, Sophia Burn on bass, Henning Dietz on drums and Dan Raishbrook on guitar and noize-wiv-a-Z) will be playing new songs from their (currently untitled) follow up to last year's critically acclaimed Nux Vomica released by Rough Trade.

Check out the video for their song "Calliope" off their last album Nux Vomica
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24rEZS4pD3s


http://www.myspace.com/theveils
http://WWW.THEVEILS.COM/

The Veils Fall Tour Dates

THU - 9/4/2008 NEW YORK, NY Bowery Ballroom
FRI - 9/5/2008 PHILADELPHIA, PA World Café Live
SAT - 9/6/2008 WASHINGTON, DC The Rock and Roll Hotel
SUN - 9/7/2008 CHAPEL HILL, NC Local 506
TUE - 9/9/2008 NASHVILLE, TN Mercy Lounge
WED - 9/10/2008 MEMPHIS, TN Hi Tone
THU - 9/11/2008 ST. LOUIS, MO Billiken Club @ St. Louis University
THU - 9/18/2008 TUCSON, AZ Plush
FRI - 9/19/2008 SAN DIEGO, CA Casbah
SAT - 9/20/2008 LOS ANGELES, CA Echoplex
TUE - 9/23/2008 SAN FRANCISCO, CA Bottom of the Hill
WED - 9/24/2008 PORTLAND, OR Doug Fir Lounge
SAT - 9/27/2008 VANCOUVER, BC Biltmore Cabaret
WED - 10/1/2008 MINNEAPOLIS, MN 7th Street Entry
THU - 10/2/2008 CHICAGO, IL Lakeshore Theater
FRI - 10/3/2008 CLEVELAND, OH Grog Shop
SUN - 10/5/2008 MONTREAL, QC La Sala Rossa (Pop Montreal)
TUE - 10/7/2008 BOSTON, MA Paradise
THU - 10/9/2008 NORTHAMPTON, MA Iron Horse Music Hall
FRI - 10/10/2008 PROVIDENCE, RI Club Hell

The National's Fake Empire used in Obama campaign! 02 Sep 2008

The National have teamed up with the Obama campaign and allowed for an instrumental version of "Fake Empire" to be used in a 2:40 minute spot that aired in Denver prior to Obama's speech. It's also on youtube for you to watch!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcRA2AZsR2Q

Johann Johannsson's Fordlândia out this November on 4AD 28 Aug 2008

4AD is pleased to announce the forthcoming album from Jóhann Jóhannsson. Fordlândia will be released on November 4 by 4AD.

An American magnate builds a doomed utopia in the depths of the Brazilian rainforest. A Victorian poetess laments the death of Pan. A pagan rocket scientist blows himself up in his Californian garage. A crippled German physicist draws up the equations, which can make faster than light travel possible, unseen by the rest of the world.

Jóhann Jóhannsson's spellbinding new album draws these tantalizing threads together, weaving a musical tapestry of hypnotic richness and surprising emotional depth.

Jóhannsson makes stately, slow-building and hauntingly melodic music - which frequently combines electronic processing with classical orchestrations - that has been quietly bewitching listeners for the last few years. His first two solo records - Englabörn (2002), written for string quartet, percussion and electronics, and Virthulegu Forsetar (2004), written for brass ensemble, drones and percussion – were released by the singular British independent Touch label.

Englabörn was derived from music that Johann wrote for an Icelandic play using string quartet, piano, organ, glockenspiel and percussion. These elements were processed and manipulated, adding delicate electronic accents to the otherwise entirely acoustic recordings. Virthulegu Forsetar was a one hour-long piece for eleven brass players, percussion, electronics, organs and piano. It shares Englabörn's quiet, elegiac beauty, but replaces the brevity of the first album's exquisite miniatures with an extended sweep of sound that reveals a long, slow process of evolution.

Jóhann is involved in many different projects in his native Iceland, including the all-analog Apparat Organ Quartet and Kitchen Motors, the art organization/think tank/record label which specializes in instigating collaborations and art projects across diverse art forms. Among many other things, he has also recently composed scores for the award-winning animator Marc Craste (Varmints, 2008) and the American independent film Personal Effects (David Hollander, 2008).

Johann's first release for 4AD, IBM 1401 - A User's Manual (2006), involved a sixty-piece string orchestra recorded at Prague's legendary Barrandov sound stage and incorporated electronics and vintage reel-to-reel recordings of a 1960's IBM 1401 mainframe computer and its accompanying instruction manual.

After IBM 1401, A User's Manual, Fordlândia is the second installment in a proposed trilogy based on technology and iconic American brand names. Whereas IBM 1401, A User's Manual was a personal response to technology and its inevitable obsolescence (inspired by his father's work with mainframe computers in 1960s Iceland), Fordlândia springs out of a far more diffuse set of influences. It brings together the soaring grandeur of its predecessor – some sections were recorded with the same orchestra in Prague – and the intimacy of Englabörn, moving between heady, melting cadences and crystalline motifs with gorgeous, dreamlike logic.

In short, Fordlândia is Jóhann Jóhannsson's most complete and beautiful piece of music to date; a fascinating, immersive and deeply rewarding web of ideas and melodies, which is sure to win him a legion of new listeners.

Friendly Fires Confirm US Tour 27 Aug 2008

FRIENDLY FIRES CONFIRM U.S. TOUR
Set To Suport Lykke Li
Self-Titled Debut Will Be Out October 7 on XL Recordings

Friendly Fires have confirmed a U.S. tour supporting Lykke Li.  The tour kicks off October 19 in Washington, DC and ends in Los Angeles on November 3.   The bands debut album, Friendly Fires is due out September 23 on XL Recordings.  

Friendly Fires are one of the most exciting new bands coming from the UK.  Last year, a super limited seven-inch, "Paris," was judged to be the single of the week in both the NME and The Guardian.  The buzz is growing on this side of the Atlantic as well - the band recently played to packed houses in both NYC and LA.  And if you think you've never heard them before but kind of recognize the sound it might just be from a Wii Fit ad that was recently ruling the airwaves here.

It’s not hard to see what all the fuss is about. The aforementioned "Paris" is a deft combination of clattering percussion and a blissed out, hum-along hook, "In The Hospital" combines a driving punk funk groove with an unstoppable pop melody and Macfarlane’s joyous vocals in the chorus of "Skeleton Boy" give the song such a lift you could dust under the band’s amps. Then there’s the brilliantly wonky waltz-like rhythms on "White Diamonds," which point to their love of German techno label Kompakt, while the Paul Epworth-produced first single "Jump In The Pool "is an inspired collision of loose Liquid Liquid drums and My Bloody Valentine atmospherics. It’s all the more impressive when you consider that they recorded it entirely themselves on a laptop, laying down one instrument at a time and using a “crappy microphone gaffer taped to a mic stand”.

Friendly Fires tour dates can be found at http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com/tour/

Friendly Fires are Ed Macfarlane, Edd Gibson and Jack Savidge.

4AD signs ANNI ROSSI! 26 Aug 2008

4AD is pleased to announce the signing of ANNI ROSSI.

Anni Rossi’s label debut is Afton, a six-track mini-album, which will be released on October 21st, 2008.

Hear an mp3 for the song "Wheelpusher" here:
http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com/mp3/AnniRossi_Wheelpusher.mp3

From Minnesota via Los Angeles, 22-year old Anni Rossi is now based in Chicago. A classically trained musician from a young age, Anni is a most accomplished multi-instrumentalist and as you’ll hear, it’s the viola that forms the centerpiece to her music.

Her debut 4AD release, Afton, is both an accomplished and confident album. Fleshed out to great effect, most tracks were recorded in October of 2006. Collected on this mini-album for the first time, they work incredibly well together and introduce her perfectly as a new American talent.

Anni has recently been working with Steve Albini his at Electrical Audio studio on her debut album, which is slated for release on 4AD in early 2009.

She’s no slouch, having already extensively toured her solo work and honing her live performances to a jaw-dropping T. She can also count artists like Electrelane and The Ting Tings among her admirers and has toured Europe and the US with both of them. Anni Rossi will be touring portions of the US this fall, including a date in Chicago on September 4th at Ronny's.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Machine
2. Venice
3. Ecology
4. West Coast
5. Wheelpusher
6. Central Utah

Future Of The Left Confirmed To Tour The US With Against Me! !!! 25 Aug 2008

“Piecing together rancid bits of fun, punk and absurdist theater, Future of the Left’s debut album spews confrontational noise with exhilarating flair….Curses is so over the top you just have to laugh in delighted appreciation.”            Spin


FUTURE OF THE LEFT CONFIRM U.S. TOUR
Band To Support Against Me!
Debut Album Curses Out On Too Pure

Future of the Left are excited, thrilled, delighted and downright psyched to announce that they will be supporting Against Me! on their forthcoming US tour.  We at the label are just as stoked.   The tour starts September 30 in Birmingham, AL and takes the band throughout the US ending in Los Angeles on October 28.   Future of the Left will be third on the bill that also includes Ted Leo.

Future of the Left’s debut album Curses was released earlier this year on Too Pure and this will mark their first US tour.    The band is made up of 2/3 of the now defunct Welsh band Mclusky --  singer/ guitarist Andy Falkous and drummer Jack Egglestone -- and one-fifth of  the band Jarcrew, wild-eyed frontman Kelson Louis Matthias.

Recorded across three weekends with longtime associate Richard Jackson, Curses is an altogether broader, more devious, more detailed record than anything that's come before. There are songs about revenge (“The Lord Hates A Coward”) Tories (the self-explanatory, Shellac-inflected “Fuck The Countryside Alliance”), and sausages on sticks (“Wrigley Scott”). But there's also “Manchasm,” a song about Falco's cat, and how it misses its owner when he's off on tour.  There's “Fingers Become Thumbs,” which is about evolution. There's “Suddenly It's A Folk Song,” inspired by a biography of Peter Sellers, which explores the chasm between an actor's role and his private persona. There's “Real Men Hunt In Packs,” conceived as an alternative theme tune to The Sopranos. Or perhaps most surprising of all, the closing “The Contrarian,” a gentle Noel Coward-esque tale of social mores which came together when Andy and Kelson found a piano in the studio and decided to write a song on it, each playing one handed.  In short, Curses finds Future Of The Left further trying to stretch and bend the boundaries of what a rock band should be.

Tour dates can be found here.

“Curses brilliantly maintains the kind of vicious angularity that defined the 90s American noise-rock scenes.  What separates  the trip from stylistic limitations are Falkous’ positively twisted lyrics.”    Alternative Press

“(With Future of the Left) the gleefully snide vocals, jagged guitars and manic pop hooks remain, but Curses has expanded upon Mclusky’s formula with more listener-friendly touches….don’t be fooled; there’s a riot going on here. It’s just a lot more fun than most.”    Magnet

Future of the Left merge the twisted styles of its predecessors into a sludgy, serrated debut.    Distilling the doomed bass throb, precise yet pummeling rhythms, and jagged-glass guitars of their former groups, this trio has created a brutal (and often brutally funny) collection in which discordant melodies slice through tribal beats like broken bottles in a bar fight.”            Revolver

Adam Green interviews Adam Green 22 Aug 2008

Here is yet another entertaining interview from Adam Green, this time from Spinner.com's show The DL.

Basia Bulat On Tour 20 Aug 2008

Polaris Prize nominee, Basia Bulat is heading back on the road. Be sure to catch her if you can!

Here's just a few things folks are saying about Basia's Rough Trade debut, Oh, My Darling:

“Unabashedly cheerful, ‘In The Night’ is a perfect slab of shimmering girl-group pop…the only way to improve upon it is to play it again.” -NPR

“Oh, My Darling's lucky thirteen tracks showcase Bulat's soothing, throaty voice and her dead-on aptitude for poignant, classic songwriting.
From gracefully sad to hopeful and joyous, she exudes an earthy, organic quality to the music's mystic, Phil Spector-like backbone.” -Spin.com

“(Oh, My Darling) is a gossamer folk collection mixing elegant folk melodies with rustic instrumentation and some old-world rhythms.” - No Depression

So what are you waiting for? Get those tickets before they're gone & we'll see you at the shows!

New DEPARTMENT OF EAGLES mp3!!! 20 Aug 2008

Check out the new mp3 from Department of Eagles! It's making all the kids excited today, so don't be the last one on your block to know about this band! The song is called "No One Does It Like You" and it will be on the record that comes out on October 7th via 4AD.

http://www.beggarsgroupusa.com/mp3/departmentofeagles_noonedoesitlikeyou.mp3

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