Torr

Out in the UK on Monday

Here's the decent stuff that's out in the UK on Mon March 3rd...

Albums:

The Charlatans - You Cross My Path [Free download from xfm.co.uk]

Duffy - Rockferry [Debut from Welsh soul singer. A few tracks were co-written & produced by Bernard Butler.]

The Cardigans - Best Of [The 2CD version includes a disc of b-sides.]

Singles:

Sunny Day Sets Fire - "End Of The Road" [No vid? 2nd single from London-based 5-piece.]

Hatcham Social - "So So Happy Making" [Vid. 3rd single from English trio.]

Envy & Other Sins - "Highness" [Vid. Birmingham band's debut album is out next month.]

Elbow get U.S. release date; sets tour

Elbow have signed a deal with Geffen Records to release their new album (The Seldom Seen Kid) in the U.S. on April 22nd.

The 1st single in the U.S. (instead of "Grounds For Divorce") will be "One Day Like This", which will be available digitally on March 18th.

The album also includes Guy Garvey's first ever duet as Richard Hawley sings with him on "The Fix".

The album (their 4th) is the first since 2005's Leaders of the Free World (album stream) which was released in the States by the now-defunct V2 Records.

Elbow U.S. tour dates:

• 4/26 New York, NY - Webster Hall
• 4/27 Washington, DC - Sixth & I Historic Synagogue
• 4/29 Chicago, IL - Park West
• 4/30 Minneapolis, MN - Fine Line
• 5/2 Denver, CO - Bluebird Theater
• 5/5 Seattle, WA - Showbox At The Market
• 5/6 Vancouver, BC - St Andrew's Wesley Church
• 5/8 San Francisco, CA - Bimbo's 365
• 5/9 Los Angeles, CA - Avalon

In related news, Guy's contributes vocals to one track ("The Vanishing Of Maria Schneider") on the new album from dEUS.

Weekly U.S. Soundscan Report

Here's the good stuff that entered the U.S. SoundScan chart the week of Wed Feb 27th...

Billboard 200:

#108 The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust [7,013 copies.]

Heatseekers Chart (artists who've never had a release in the top 100 of the big chart):

#47 Grand Archives - self-titled [1,312 copies. Debut from ex-Band Of Horses guitarist. Lovely!]

#61 Bell X1 - Flock [1,095 copies. U.S. debut from Irish 4-piece.]

These releases did not chart:

• Headlights - Some Racing, Some Stopping [2nd album from Chicago trio.]
• Kula Shaker - Strange Folk [Reunion album from London 4-piece.]
• Tiger Lou - The Loyal [Album stream. U.S. debut from Stockholm guy.]
• Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams [mp3. Debut from Seattle 5-piece.]
• The Republic Tigers - self-titled EP [mp3. Debut from Kansas City 5-piece.]

Let me know if there are any releases you'd like me to look-up.

Gigs, Gigs, Gigs

Two great concert announcements today...

• The Verve will be playing at the Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas on April 26th (the day after their Coachella performance.) By the way, I also found this SF show listing, but it seems to have been removed from the Live Nation site now?

• Elbow have announced a short U.S. jaunt including an LA date at the Avalon on May 9th. No word yet on a U.S. release for their 4th album The Seldom Seen Kid.

This week is a great time for shows here in LA. I saw The Helio Sequence @ Spaceland last night, tonight is British Sea Power / Castledoor @ The Echo, and tomorrow is Tulsa @ Silverlake Lounge.

The Helio Sequence were kinda disappointing; I hate how since they're a duo they have so many pre-recorded backing tracks. On some songs the laptop was playing bass, keyboards, and 2nd guitar! Ugh. After making such a great full-band sounding album in Keep Your Eyes Ahead [album stream] they should really just invest in a couple extra touring members. It would really help with keeping the energy level up. And unfortunately his vocals didn't sound very good last night either. And the crowd was kinda douchey too, what's up with that? The highlights of the set were opener "Can't Say No", "Lately", "Keep Your Eyes Ahead" and the acoustic song "Shed Your Love." Hopefully they'll be a bit better at SXSW.

Oh, and advance warning for anyone catching this tour, openers The Builders And The Butchers were one of the worst bands I've had the misfortune of seeing live in quite sometime. They're like a really, really bad version of Portland-ers The Decemberists.

And lastly, the LimeWire site has made a nice Google map of where every artist playing SXSW is from. You're not really able to get a sense of density since the one pin for each city lists all the artists from that city, but it's still interesting. Looks like the only states without an artist representing are Maine, New Hampshire, West Virginia, and the Dakotas. Be sure to scroll over to the other countries as well.

UK Chart Report

Here's the good stuff that entered the UK charts on Sun Feb 24th...

Albums:

• #71 Pete & The Pirates - Little Death [2nd album from Reading 5-piece.]

Indie-label album chart:

• #10 I Was A Cub Scout - I Want You to Know... [Album stream. Debut from East Midlands duo.]

Singles:

• #47 Foals - "Cassius" [Vid. On downloads-alone. Debut album out next month.]
  

Indie-label singles chart:

• #2 The Rascals - "Suspicious Wit" [Vid. 2nd single from Wirral trio.]

These singles did not chart:

• Cut Off Your Hands - "Oh Girl" [Vid. 7"-only debut from Auckland 4-piece.]
• Exit Calm - "Higher Learning" [Vid. 7"-only debut from South Yorkshire shoegazers.]
• Los Campesinos - "Death To..." [Vid. Their debut album is out next month.]

Out in the UK on Monday

Here's the good stuff that's released in the UK on Mon Feb 25th...

Albums:

Los Campesinos - Hold on Now Youngster [Debut from Cardiff 7-piece.]

Correcto - self-titled [Debut from Glasgow 4-piece that features the Franz Ferdinand drummer.]

Singles:

The Bookhouse Boys - "Dead" [No vid? Really great 2nd single from London 9-piece.]

The Lines - "Domino Effect" [Vid. Debut from Wolverhampton 4-piece.]

The Raveonettes - "You Want The Candy" [Vid. 2nd single from Lust Lust Lust.]

Vincent Vincent & The Villians - "Pretty Girl" [Vid. Their debut album is out next month.]

Remember when the Manics played for Castro?

The news today of Fidel Castro stepping down as president of Cuba reminds me of the Manics 2001 trip there to play a show at the Karl Marx Theater in Havana, Cuba. The event is chronicled on the Louder Than War DVD. Apparently they were the first Western "rock-band" to play in the country in decades. Castro was in the audience, and the band also met him before the concert. The title of the DVD comes from an exchange the band had with Castro (thru his translator) in which they warned him that their performance would be very loud, wherein Castro replied "it cannot be louder than war."

Video from the show:

• "The Masses Against The Classes"
• "Motorcycle Emptiness"
• "Ocean Spray"
• "Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head"

Oh the Manics, always being contrary simply for the sake of being contrary.

Out in the U.S. on Tuesday

Here's the good stuff that's out in the U.S. on Tues Feb 19th...

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust [Album stream. 4th album from Danish duo.]

Kula Shaker - Strange Folk [Reunion album from London 4-piece.]

Tiger Lou - The Loyal [Album stream. Debut U.S. release from Stockholm solo artist.]

Bell X1 - Flock [Album stream. Debut U.S. release from Irish 4-piece.]

Headlights - Some Racing, Some Stopping [Album stream. 2nd album from Chicago trio.]

Throw Me The Statue - Moonbeams [mp3. Debut from Seattle 5-piece.]

The Republic Tigers - self-titled EP [mp3. Debut from Kansas City 5-piece. Album out in May.]

UK Chart Report

Here's the good stuff that entered the UK charts on Sun Feb 17th...

Singles:

• #1 Duffy - "Mercy" [Vid. On downloads-alone! Debut album out in May.]
• #54 REM - "Supernatural Superserious" [Vid. On downloads-alone. Album out in April.]
• #64 The Coral - "Put The Sun Back" [Vid. Another single from their latest album.]

Indie-label singles chart:

• #5 Pete & The Pirates - "Mr. Understanding" [Vid. Their debut album is out next week.]

• Those Dancing Days - "Hitten" [Vid. Debut from Swedish all-female 5-piece.] did not chart.

Albums:

• #5 Morrissey - Greatest Hits
• #10 One Night Only - Started A Fire [Steve Lillywhite-produced debut from English 5-piece.]

Indie-label album chart:

• nothing of interest

Attn: I need help from an Austin resident

Well, the person who was going to help me buy a SXSW wristband has had to pull out, so I must give my plea again:

Does anyone live in Austin and can help me purchase a wristband?

Please contact me if you're entering the wristband lottery and are willing to make me the recipient of wristband #2. I can pay you via PayPal days before the lottery begins. I will even include a few extra bucks for your trouble.

Here are the details of how advance wristband sales will work:

* This year, the only advance wristband sale is via an online drawing.

* 4000 wristbands will be put on sale to area residents only, at the discounted price of $139 (includes tax and service charge).

* Submit an order online from 9am, Feb. 21- 9am, Feb 25, for one or two wristbands. Submitting an order enters you into the drawing but does not guarantee eligibility to purchase wristbands.

* Entries will be drawn at random, orders for 4,000 wristbands will be filled, and your credit card billed at that time. You'll be notified if your order could not be filled.

* You will pick up your wristband at the event, and will need to place it on your wrist at the time of pick-up.

* All entries must use a credit card with a local billing address. The name on the card must be the recipient of one of the wristband.

* You can only enter once, but you can buy one for a friend whose name you must provide at time of entry. When purchasing 2 wristbands, the authorized purchaser must be one of the wristband recipients.

RELATED: my SXSW 2008 picks [now w/ mp3s!]

* This year, the only advance wristband sale is via an online drawing.

* 4000 wristbands will be put on sale to area residents only, at the discounted price of $139 (includes tax and service charge).

* Submit an order online from 9am, Feb. 21- 9am, Feb 25, for one or two wristbands. Submitting an order enters you into the drawing but does not guarantee eligibility to purchase wristbands.

* Entries will be drawn at random, orders for 4,000 wristbands will be filled, and your credit card billed at that time. You'll be notified if your order could not be filled.

* You will pick up your wristband at the event, and will need to place it on your wrist at the time of pick-up.

* All entries must use a credit card with a local billing address. The name on the card must be the recipient of one of the wristband.

* You can only enter once, but you can buy one for a friend whose name you must provide at time of entry. When purchasing 2 wristbands, the authorized purchaser must be one of the wristband recipients.

RELATED: my SXSW 2008 picks [now w/ mp3s!]