Cannibal Cheerleader

NEW KILLERS EP
The Killers newest LP Day & Age is crammed full of the same working-man-with-mascara pop we’ve come to know and love from the group, one of the standout tracks being the wild outer limits ride that is “Spaceman”. Well it turns out the foursome is releasing a Spaceman EP, featuring the titular track as well as two other songs, an unreleased b-side called “Tidal Wave” and a wonderful cover of “Four Winds” by Bright Eyes. The diatribe on modern America, while a definitive Oberst standout, sounds nonetheless heartfelt and crushing with the patented Brandon Flowers warble behind it. Flowers has definitely fallen into form as a rock and roll Jesus of sorts and the religious undertones and sacrificial lyrics complement his image perfectly. This is definitely worth checking out below.

The Killers – “Four Winds”
The Killers – “Tidal Waves”
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NEW ONE DAY AS A LION VIDEO
A little bit late (and maybe a little bit repetitive), but here’s the video for “Wild International” from One Day As A Lion, and it’s worth every second if only to watch De La Rocha spit a killer flow over Theodore’s wicked drum beat. Check it:

One Day As A Lion – “Last Letter”
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NEW ROLO TOMASSI MERCH
Head on over to the Rolo Tomassi store immediately and check out some of their killer new tshirt/hoodie designs. Finally we can rep RT here in the States!

Rolo Tomassi – “Beatrotter”

Comments?

FOLLOW THAT BIRD! AT BEAUTY BAR
Sorry for not updating Wednesday guys – a combination of more moving difficulties and a slow news day meant no time for an update. However, today is a double update, beginning with a show review of one of the best local bands we’ve stumbled upon all year, the punk trio Follow That Bird!.

Stunning an elated Beauty Bar crowd with their massive set, these women pack a sound laden with furious feedback and chugging basslines under the magnificent croon of Corin Tucker incarnate lead singer Lauren Green, whose wail refused to be overpowered even by the crunching notes of her own guitar shredding. The trio stormed through a set comprised half of punk vignettes highlighting Green’s vocals and half of more melodic pieces which challenged with their improvisational fuzz-work and splintered in a million different directions before returning to a poppy whole. All the while bassist Rachel Badger provided a solid base for the action to take place on, whipping through intricate basslines and diving below the lead guitar all with a moment’s notice, and drummer Tiffanie Lanmon railed on her drums and whipped her head about like the most metal of moshpit fanatics. Overall, the band surprised with its larger than life sound that nonetheless managed to hold fast to a punk ethos that kept us engaged and enthralled. We can definitely say without question that this was one of the best shows we’ve been to all year and we hope to see more of these girls soon! Here are some more pictures and another YouTube we found.

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SOUTHERN DRAMA INTERVIEW ONLINE
The special interview we did a few weeks ago with our friends in Southern Drama is now up at the Soundcheck Magazine website. Go check it out here and be sure and swing by the ladies’ Myspace when you get a chance as well.

Southern Drama – “Blood Red”
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CRYSTAL CASTLES HEADS CMJ LINEUP
The NYC equivalent of Austin’s own SXSW madness the CMJ Music Marathon has announced its lineup and up near the top of the list is Cannibal Cheerleader favorite Crystal Castles, along with other favorites like the Virgins, the Cool Kids, A Place To Bury Strangers, etc. We’ll definitely be looking forward to what these cats pull when their massive music fest isn’t in a town where the weather seems perpetually beautiful and cooperative (most of the time, haha). In other CC news, the duo is currently in Europe on tour and pretty soon they’ll be swinging back into the US for a romp with none other than Trent Reznor and co. We’ll be keeping you up to date on those shows when they happen!

Crystal Castles – “Trash Hologram”
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THE NATIONAL REVEAL NEW TUNE
Recently at a show in Copenhagen our favorite brooding indie-rockers the National revealed a new track entitled “A Thousand Black Cities” which you can view below. A bit jazzier and light than the title might suggest, the song starts slow but then really comes into its own and stands aside some of the band’s strongest work, with a soaring chorus and the same hopeless, inner-city existentialism we’ve come to expect. Maybe not the band to soundtrack your latest frat party, but it’ll do if you can’t find your copy of Unknown Pleasures (lord knows that gets the sorority sisters bouncing!).

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ACL AFTERSHOWS ANNOUNCED
According to the Austinist the lineup of ACL Fest aftershows has been officially released and along with cool Texas acts like Bill Callahan (aka Smog) and the Butthole Surfers, there’s a special show at La Zona Rosa on Sunday night featuring none other than Conor Oberst and special guest Jenny Lewis. You know that we’ll be waiting in line all day for that one, screw waiting for Foo Fighters. List of shows below:

Stubb’s BBQ: Thursday Sep 25: (outdoors) An evening with Manu Chao Ticket: $35 adv/ $35 dos Doors 7pm, show 8pm.

Friday Sep 26: (outdoors)
Gnarls Barkley w/ CSS
Ticket: $27 adv/ $30 dos
Doors 8pm, Show 9pm

Saturday Sep 27: (very special gospel brunch)
Gospel Brunch w/ Mike Farris featuring the Roseland Rhythm Revue
Ticket: $30, $40 (Call for reservations 512-480-8341)
Doors at 11am, Brunch at 11:30am

Saturday Sep 27: (outdoors)
Return of the Butthole Surfers w/ The Kills
Ticket: $30 adv/ $33 dos
Doors 7pm, Show 8pm.

Saturday Sep 27: (indoors)
Mugison
Ticket: $15 adv/ $15 dos
Doors 11:30pm, show midnight

Sunday Sep 28: (outdoors)
The Black Keys w/ The Black Angels & Jessica Lea Mayfield
Ticket: $25 adv/ $25 dos
Doors at 7pm, Show at 7:30pm

LaZona Rosa:

Friday Sep 26
G Love & Special Sauce
Ticket: $25 adv/ $27 dos
Doors at 10pm, Show at 11pm

Sunday Sep 28
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band w/ Special Guests Jenny Lewis and M. Ward
Ticket: $30 adv/ $30 dos
Doors at 9pm, Show at 10pm

The Parish:

Friday Sep 26
Jamie Lidell w/ Black Joe Lewis and The Honeybears
Ticket: $20 adv/ $20 dos
Doors at 10pm, show at 11pm

Paramount Theater:

Thursday Sep 25
David Byrne on Tour – songs from David Byrne and Brian Eno
Ticket: $50, $55
Doors at 7:30pm, Show 8:30pm

Saturday Sep 27
The Swell Season w/ Bill Callahan
Ticket: $35, $42.50 (depends on where seat location is)
Doors at 7:30pm, Show at 8:30pm

Emos:

Friday Sep 26 (outdoors)
Drive-By Truckers w/ Shooter Jennings
Ticket: $20 adv/ $22 dos
Doors at 10pm, Show at 10:30pm

Friday Sep 26 (Emos Jr)
Heartless Bastards w/ Dead Confederate & Wax Fang
Ticket: $15 adv/ $17 dos
Doors at 10pm, show at 10:30pm

Friday Sep 26 (Emos Lounge)
Car Stereo Wars
Ticket: $8 adv/ $10 dos
Doors at 10pm, show 11pm.

Saturday Sep 27 Emos Outside
Okkervil River w/ Man Man & Crooked Fingers
Ticket: $15 adv/ $17 dos
Doors at 10pm, show 10:30pm

Saturday Sep 27 (Emos jr)
Jose Gonzalez w/ Neva Dinova & McCarthy Trenching
Ticket: $18 adv/ $20 dos
Doors at 10pm, Show at 10:30pm

Saturday Sep 27 (Emos Lounge)
Car Stereo Wars
Ticket: $8 adv/ $10 dos
Doors at 10pm, show 11pm.

Antone’s:

Saturday Sep 27
Jakob Dylan and The Gold Mountain Rebels w/ Back Door Slam
Ticket: $23 adv, $25 dos
Doors at 10pm, Show at 10:30pm
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NEW BAND CHEER: KYLESA
Make no mistake about our indier-than-thou, twee lovin’ credibility over here at Cannibal Cheerleader – heck, we’re a stones-throw from tight-jeans wearing hipsters – but we love ourselves some face-melting fuckin’ metal every once in a while. And while we hate the radio-ready rock of bands like the much maligned Disturbed, we can’t help but be intrigued every time we hear about a band that takes the dynamic elements of metal (it’s penchant for feedback-heavy riffs, it’s air of slow-burning experimentation, etc) and fuses them into a truly unique package. That band is Savannah, Georgia’s Kylesa, a beast of a band combining swirly guitar-noodling, teeth-grinding riffs, and a brilliant vocal dichotomy between two lead vocalists, Phillip Cope and Laura Pleasants. With a psychedelic tinge and a habit of making loud-quiet-loud seem like doom-hushed oblivion-doom, Kylesa take Southern metal and brand their mark of experimentalism and purebred fury into its dusty hide. Lucky for us Austinites the band will be swinging through on Sept. 20th supporting Pinback, and you know, as always, Cannibal Cheerleader will be there!

Kylesa – “Between Silence and Sound”

Comments?

KAREN O REVEALS NEW SIDE-PROJECTOver the weekend our favorite art-punk frontwoman Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs revealed her involvement in a new side project called Native Korean Rock. Here’s the announcement from KO from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ blog:

“Native Korean Rock is a side project of mine comprised of a body of love songs written over the last two years, to be performed with a motley crew of NYC natives. Expect high drama, high stakes in two intimate performances.

Does Native Korean Rock have anything to do with Yeah Yeah Yeahs? NO

Are these the leaked demos of years ago? NO“

Check out the band’s Myspace and check the flyer below for the NYC shows.
Anyone attending this one want to take some pictures for us? Here’s a few Native Korean Rock tracks to download – fair warning, they’re appropriately lo-fi. Enjoy!

Karen O – “OOO”
Karen O – “visits”
Karen O – “rapt”
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CONOR OBERST LEAKSHere at Cannibal Cheerleader all the news of Conor Oberst ‘returning to form’ on his new solo, self-titled LP had us a little worried. We loved Cassadaga and we’ve been digging on his overtly political diatribes on the last few records, we’d prefer if our Bright Eyed troubadour stayed on this winding path. Suffice to say, during an initial run-through of Conor Oberst we’re pleasantly surprised that while this singer-songwriter has pared back the lush instrumentation, his penchant for wordy, poetic lyrics and impressive metaphor have been left well-intact. Check out a few tracks and let us know what you think folks!

“MP3s removed by request”
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ONE DAY AS A LION LEAKSDelivering on the promise of last week’s preview on the band’s Myspace, One Day As A Lion self-titled EP not only captures the fire and fury one has come to expect from the Rage Against the Machine MC, but also illuminates an evolution in his sonic palette, as drummer Jon Theodore helps push Zach de la Rocha towards a more dub-oriented reggae sound. Equal parts grime, rap, rock, and drum-n-bass, One Day As A Lion scorches through 5 economical tracks that promise great things in the band’s future. Here’s hoping for a full-length!

One Day As A Lion – “Last Letter”
One Day As A Lion – “If You Fear Dying”
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MF DOOM/J DILLA/GHOSTFACE COLLAB SURFACESYes, it’s a day of leaks here at Cannibal Cheerleader but few seem so rare as this posthumous number from the great J Dilla. It’s a collaborative effort, two tracks from Jay Dee’s Donuts (”Anti-American Grafitti” and “Geek Down”) renamed, revamped (to become “Sniperelite” and “Murder Goons”), and flowed over by two master MCs (MF Doom and Ghostface Killah respectively). The end result is Sniperlite and you can hear the mashup of both songs below, in all their glory. Check it and be awed at the production mastery that was J Dilla.

Dilla/Doom/Ghostface – “Sniper Elite & Murder Goons”
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UZI AND ARI GET EQUIPMENT STOLEN
The scourge of the indie-rock world has struck again, this time it’s our shoegazey-cum-indie pop favorites Uzi and Ari who have been left ‘out in the cold’ so to speak after their equipment was stolen from their own house! Here’s their Myspace bulletin with the details:

“Hi droogs.

This is really getting old, isn’t it? Reading about the misfortunes of Uzi & Ari. Must be a curse upon us. But, as Christian Bale said last night in ‘The Dark Knight,’ the night is darkest just before the dawn. We hope.

Last night at about 4am, some hoodlums broke into our house, while we were sleeping and made off with the following items:

Roland Juno 106 Synthesizer (black in color)
Nord Electro-2 keyboard (red in color)
Fender Twin Reverb amplifier
Fender Mustang bass guitar (white in color)
Boss DD-5 Digital Delay
Boss DD-6 Digital Delay
Dell Inspiron Notebook Laptop (black in color)
Behringer 1204 FX mixer (dark gray in color)
Tascam 4 Track (light gray)
Korg Electribe ESX1 drum machine (red in color)
Ludwig Acrolyte snare drum (matte silver in color)

and various power cords, guitar cables, etc., totalling about 4500 dollars worth of equipment. i’ll post pictures soon.

If you know anyone who might have acquired new equipment like this, please be a good samaritan and let us know. This is just happening too often to bands, it’s crippling. We already make such a meager earning, we don’t even break even. It’s getting harder and harder to justify doing this anymore, it’s just an uphill battle constantly. This is the third time we have been robbed, but this is just ugly, to be robbed in your own home while you are sleeping.

Anyway, I would feel awful to ask for donations again. So many of you were so generous in donating for the vinyl, I know our fan base isn’t huge and you must be exhausted with your own struggle and strife.

We will, however be throwing a sort of benefit show/party in downtown Salt Lake in late August. We’re trying to do it on a rooftop or something cool that a lot of people will want to come to. I’ll post more information as I get it.

Sorry to be such a downer. I posted a new song, ‘Wolf Eggs,’ from the new record, a little earlier than I had planned, to lighten the mood. I don’t want you coming to our page and just feeling bad all the time.

We’ll get through this!

xo
ben“

So there you have it folks, if you see any of that equipment out there get it back to the band! Instrument thieves should be shot on sight! Stop destroying our indie-rock idealism! Here’s a video from the band and be sure to check out the band’s new album Headworms which drops Oct. 15th.

Any comments?

BEN GIBBARD COVERS RILO KILEY/STARS

At a recent solo gig for Rhapsody, Ben Gibbard gave the acoustic treatment to some Narrow Stairs already classics such as “Cath…” and “Grapevine Fires”. However, the real excitement came when the Death Cab for Cutie frontman covered tracks from Rilo Kiley (”Silver Lining”) and Stars (”Your Ex-Lover is Dead”), and our friends over at Stereogum have the videos. Go check them out immediately to see how lonely songs like these can be somehow made even lonelier by the inimitable voice of Gibbard. Breathtaking stuff.

Death Cab for Cutie – “Cath…”
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JIM JAMES/CONOR OBERST/M. WARD MAKING RECORD?

It would seem that according to this Pitchfork story, our favorite Kentucky troubadour, My Morning Jacket frontman Jim James, is collaborating with none other than Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame and M. Ward (the Monsters of Folk anyone?) to release a record of original work. Sweetness! Also noteworthy is James’ mention of releasing a solo record under the pseudonym Sec Walkin’, a nod to the title of one of the tracks off MMJ’s new record Evil Urges. Could this news be any cooler really? Read the whole story here and stay tuned for further developments on what promises to be a truly groundbreaking country record.

My Morning Jacket – “White Rabbit”
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NEW BAND CHEER – THE CARROTS

When all-female Austin punk group Finally Punk went on indefinite hiatus (though they promised they hadn’t broken up…) this central Texas town truly lost one of its greatest rock and roll acts. However, from the ashes of the riot grrrl wreckage comes the Carrots, a doo-wop group recalling 50’s all-girl acts such as the Ronettes and the Shangri-La’s, featuring several members from Finally Punk. Austin’s answer to the undeniably catchy sounds of bands like the Pipettes, the Carrots spin a wonderful pop sound but retain the subversiveness of the former punk act with a kitschy wink to their audience on tracks like “Beverly” and “Secret Since ‘99″. Definitely worthy of attention, even outside of the Austin area, so go check them out immediately. No mp3s floating around of these gals but here’s a rad video of them playing “Beverly”.

Any comments?

We’ve had one or two posts before now about the Crystal Castles “Crystal Theft” Controversy (you know, the one where member of the ‘chiptune’ community have accused Ethan Cath and Alice Glass of stealing beats from chiptune artists’ songs and not giving proper credit to their original creators). Well it seems that music blog giant Pitchfork Media has also weighed in and posted an exclusive article featuring communication with members and management of Crystal Castles on this subject, the full text of which is below. Also, hey, thanks for mentioning Cannibal Cheerleader Pitchfork, looks like we’re getting noticed here in Austin!

From Pitchfork:

“Today, however, we present the case of Crystal Castles vs. Various Members of the 8bitpeoples Collective, a group of “chip music”-makers and software/hardware developers inspired by classic video game sounds.

Our story begins in 2004, when a fledging Crystal Castles were still honing their craft. At that time, according to the duo, they relied exclusively on samples, and a few of those samples from that period were lifted from chip music artists.

A bit of background: Like many in the chip music community, 8bitpeoples artists routinely post their music on the collective’s website for free download, with the stipulation that said music is protected under a Creative Commons License. The license provides for free copying, distribution, and transmission of the works in question, provided the person doing the copying/distributing/transmitting:

1. Properly attributes the work
2. Does not use the work for commercial purposes
3. Does not “alter, transform, or build upon” the work (aka create derivative works)

It’s also worth noting that any of these conditions can be waived given permission from the artist behind the work in question.

So, back to Crystal Castles. 8bitpeoples alleges that the duo “violated every term of the [Creative Commons] license” in its use of music created by one of the collective’s artists, a musician called Lo-Bat. They also claim Crystal Castles employed a drum beat from another chip music artist, Covox, “in no less than four…songs.”

Others in the chip music community have chimed in with accusations. A writeup on blog Gameboy Genius lists several more instances of perceived beat-jacking on the part of Crystal Castles, even going so far as to analyze a pair of audio tracks side by side.

But here’s the thing: First, as mentioned, Crystal Castles admit to the sampling. What’s more, according to them, none of the music that contains uncleared samples has been released.

As Crystal Castles member Ethan Kath wrote in an email to Pitchfork, “These infringing songs are early unreleased tracks which were never performed. They are the most awful tracks associated with the band and [vocalist] Alice [Glass] herself hasn’t heard most of these tracks. I put these tracks together myself and then discarded them because I thought they were too poor for release. Labels were interested in collecting these sample-based tracks but we did not want to release these tracks because we did not like the songs. And even if we did like the songs, there were too many samples to clear. Three of the tracks sample early Madonna, three of the tracks sample Joy Division, two of the tracks sample the Stooges, three of the tracks sample Lo-Bat, four of the tracks sample Covox.”

According to the band, the controversy stems from the appearance of several unreleased Crystal Castles tracks online. At least one– which is titled “Insecticon” (erroneously, apparently) and samples Lo-Bat– appeared on the MySpace page of Lies Records, the label to which CC originally licensed their self-titled debut album.

Explains Kath, “One of our earliest tracks is a noise-guitar track called ‘Insectica’. While teaching myself how to use a computer music sequencer program, I mashed it up with a Lo-Bat track. It somehow appeared online as ‘Insecticon’. I assume it was named for someone mishearing Alice sing the opening line ‘I, Insectica.’ Someone else posted the track as ‘Bitter Hearts’ after learning that we have an unreleased track called ‘Bitter Hearts’ and [assuming] they had found it. If I had put the song online myself I would have called it ‘Insectica (Crystal Castles vs. Lo-Bat version)’ but unfortunately I did not upload it. I do not regret this, the publicity we are receiving four years later is priceless.”

The song in question, though still titled “Insecticon”, is now credited to “CC vs. Lo-Bat” on the Lies Records MySpace. It now includes a Creative Commons License acknowledgement as well. Crystal Castles also insist that Lo-Bat has contacted their manager and expressed that he does not mind the sample and finds the controversy “ridiculous.”

In a statement to blog Cannibal Cheerleader, a Lies Records rep notes, “I myself wanted to release ‘Insecticon’ but I could not find Lo-bat to seek his permission.”

Furthermore, Kath writes, “The artists who have been sampled have agreed that the 8bit community is making too big a deal about this, plus they do not want publicity for this, they do not want to be known as the bands that Crystal Castles sampled. Instead, they want to be known for their own great music. We are trying to help with this, we are organizing a compilation of our favourite 8bit songs for release on Lies Records.”

So yes, Crystal Castles did create derivative works based on the music of chip music artists without proper attribution (though the attribution wasn’t the band’s doing)– two Creative Commons agreement no-no’s. But since they didn’t release or perform the works– and deny that they were responsible for disseminating them– it would be hard to mount a case for the third Creative Commons violation (”commercial gain”). And indeed, even the other two Creative Commons conditions wouldn’t apply to experiments that were intended to remain in the bedroom/studio.

We may never know how most of the early Crystal Castles material made it online, but since Kath and Glass insist it wasn’t their doing– and since they’ve made clear their intention to not release any of the sampled material without permission– we think it’s high time to call off the witch hunt.

In other news, Crystal Castles have loads of touring to attend to this summer, including a round of dates with Nine Inch Nails. They’ll release a new UK single for “Vanished” in 7″ and digital formats via Different Recordings on July 21. They also hope to issue a new EP and a collection of remixes in the fall. “

Once again, thanks for the shoutout Pitchfork! The article pretty much sums up the issue from inception to ‘Insecticon” and they’ve come to the same conclusion as us down here at Cannibal Cheerleader, that we need to end this senseless argument over what are essentially Ethan Kath’s home recordings. You can read the original Pitchfork post here.

Also, as you can read from this update, Crystal Castles hope to be releasing a new EP and a remix LP sometime this fall. Awesome news! I imagine there will be a lot of comments on this article so since you can’t post public comments over at the P4K, bring them here. What do people think about this one?

Crystal Castles – “Alice Practice (Future Cop Remix)”
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CONOR OBERST SOLO LP/TOUR WITH JENNY LEWIS

According to Stereogum, Conor Oberst is revealing more and more about his upcoming Conor Oberst LP and his tour with the Mystic Valley Band. In fact you can head over to Mr. Oberst’s site http://www.conoroberst.com/album/ right now and check out two additional tracks from his upcoming release, “Souled Out” and “Danny Callahan”. Also, according to Pitchfork Conor Oberst will be touring with none other than Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley for some of his fall tour dates in support of his self-titled album. The tracks here sound more upbeat than Cassadaga but certainly don’t dissappoint with their creativity or spirtuality. As Stereogum said, “Nothing like some alien sightings to bring some joy back to the songwriting process”.

Jenny Lewis and Conor Oberst will both be playing solo sets at this year’s Austin City Limits Fest so maybe we’ll get our first glimpse of the two together during one of their respective sets! Here’s another Conor Oberst track taken from a Mystic Valley Band live show that’s been circling the Internet for a while. Enjoy!

Conor Oberst – “I Don’t Want to Die in the Hospital”

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THE ROLLER PLAYS THURSDAY @ RED 7

And you know we’ll be there to check it out, camera in hand! Just wanted to announce this as The Roller are fast becoming one of Austin’s preeminent metal acts, so catch ‘em now before they’re too big to catch!

The Roller – “Rattle of the Shaman”
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MAXMILLION DUNBAR AKA VULTURE V

Seems that emcee Vulture V from Baltimore’s Food For Animals (http://www.myspace.com/thefoodforanimals) has a side project as a producer under the moniker Maxmillion Dunbar, and his first 7” featuring two new tracks just dropped via Future Times. Check out this first track “Outrageous Soulz” – quite a summer sizzler if we do say so ourselves!

Maxmillion Dunbar – “Outrageous Soulz”
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ACTION DESIGN DEBUT NEW TRACK ON MYSPACE

Our favorite post-Tsunami Bomb female fronted pop-punk act the Action Design (yay for Agent M for getting back on her feet!) has a new track on their Myspace, a cover of grunge act Seaweed’s track “Kid Candy”, and believe us, it plays in the spirit of few punkers today. Action Design sound like what reading the Love and Rockets comic book feels like – the story of punks growing up, getting smarter, and looking inside for something deep amidst all that rage. Great stuff and it’s what made us include Action Design as one of our top ten new bands this year so far. Definitely check the band out at their Myspace and listen to “Kid Candy” – you won’t regret it!

-Any comments?

CONVERGE IN AUSTIN


Tonight’s Converge show at Red 7 here in Austin definitely renewed my faith in the hardcore scene. You can get bogged down in lame, crust-punk bands with no sense of integrity or unity to the punk ethos, but then you see great bands like these tonight (Converge, Red Chord, etc.) that really show the intellectual depth of bands such as these. When anger is this awe-inspiring people begin to take notice of what kids are so angry about. From opener “Plagues” to closer “Jane Doe” the Converge crew proved they’re the thinking man’s hardcore group once again. Here are some pictures from the gig.
Converge




The Red Chord

Genghis Tron

Coliseum

The Network

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CONOR OBERST RELEASING SOLO ALBUM


As we previously reported Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band may be releasing an upcoming album. Turns out they ARE releasing an album, a solo Conor Oberst one, so says this press release. Conor Oberst, as the album will be called, is set to be released 8/5 and here’s a tracklist. We’ll definitely be picking this one up before we see the Bright Eyes frontman at ACL this year.

01 “Cape Cañaveral”
02 “Sausalito”
03 “Get-Well-Cards”
04 “Lenders In The Temple”
05 “Danny Callahan”
06 “I Don’t Want To Die (In The Hospital)”
07 “Eagle On A Pole”
08 “Moab”
09 “NYC – Gone, Gone”
10 “Valle Místico (Ruben’s Song)”
11 “Souled Out!!!”
12 “Milk Thistle”

Also here’s one more, super upbeat solo track recorded live this past December for your enjoyment!

Conor Oberst – “I Don’t Want To Die (In The Hospital)”

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CAT POWER SHOWS RESCHEDULED


Check out the Cat Power Myspace for more details, but the Austin Stubb’s show is rescheduled now officially for October 11th. The date’s already circled on my calendar!

However, I know everyone gets tired of Cat Power updates lacking content so here’s a bside that’s been floating around the Internet for a while!

Cat Power – Wonderwall (live cover version)

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CRYSTAL CASTLES ON NME COVER?


Check it out! How cool is that? Apparently they’re now a ‘hype band’ that we should be watching out for! Read more about it here. Of course, astute readers of CC already know the deal with these guys.
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ARCADE FIRE ROCK (AGAIN!) FOR OBAMA


The Arcade Fire will be playing in support of presidential nominee (hopefully future president) Barack Obama in North Carolina on May 1st and 2nd in anticipation of the upcoming NC primary (story here). Basically, if you like rock and roll at all you’ll vote for this guy. C’mon people, I think it’s required now if you’re reading this blog.
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SCARLETT JOHANSSON SITE FOR WAITS’ ALBUM


Apparently there’s a site up now to cover the release of the new Scarlett album of Tom Waits’ covers. Luckily if you swing by you’ll be able to hear six tracks from the album and, as I’ve said before, it’s pretty darn good stuff. Definitely worth checking out.

Sorry this took so long to update readers! Internet troubles plague music blogs worldwide I’m sure, it’s just lame when I feel like it’s a really good post. If you like what you’re seeing comment peoples!

RINGO DEATHSTARR LIVE VIDEO


One of our favorite local Austin bands Ringo Deathstarr has posted a new video on their Myspace. This is obviously just an inkling of what’s experienced at a Deathstarr show but stay tuned for more videos from this awesome band (hopefully from yours truly!).

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NEW M.I.A. LIVE VIDEO


Today we’ve got our favorite UK rapper M.I.A. live from Philadelphia with her signature crazy on-stage antics. M.I.A. will be in town May 1st at La Zona Rosa so be sure and check her out if you haven’t yet.

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WHO IS CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND?


Of course we all know who Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes fame is, but after it was announced that it was his new band is playing this year’s ACL festival, we wondered who’s this Mystic Valley Band and what do they sound like? First, check out this post by Hypeful and you’ll get a lot more information as to what Oberst’s new project is all about. They are rumored to have recorded a new album and from the sound of the tracks on Hypeful, it has a more upbeat, singalong vibe than last year’s dark (but excellent) Bright Eyes release Cassadaga. Here’s a few tracks to wrap your brain around.

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – “Gone, Gone From New York City”
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – “Beach Bum Song”
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – “Where Pilgrims Disappear”

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NOTE FROM CHAN OF CAT POWER


Chan Marshall, the artist more commonly known as Cat Power, had a brief message posted on her Myspace that I thought was so damn touching that I would repost it. Here it is:

“yeah, phoenix ear nose and throat doctor said
i should take a week off of singing, if i want to
continue touring for the rest of this year,
also, if i don’t want to risk ruining my vocal chords permanently, as
i have a callous on the right side of my vocal chords, and a hint of a
new one on the left.

to say yesterday was a very depressing and
upsetting day for me and my band is to say the
very least.

i sincerely apologize for any inconvenience
that this has imposed on anybody.

all i can do is apologize.

i would not wish the way that i felt yesterday
on anybody.

if you need gas money for all that long distance driving to last
night’s phoenix show, maybe i can send you a western union wire for
all your gas,
or you could just pawn my c.d.
or throw it out
the window for that matter, how about that,
sound fair?
x

with love, frustration, feeling misunderstood
and unplugging myspace page,
yours,
chan human”

Let it be known that the band’s Myspace has said that the cancelled US dates will probably be rescheduled for October, and while that’s a ways away they also said they’ll honor all the previously bought tickets (like mine up there). So you can bet I’m hanging on to that sucker and I’ll be seeing Chan and the gang then.
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CANNIBAL CHEERLEADER ON MYSPACE


Today’s update is super long (which is a good thing I think!) and that’s mainly because I have no Cat Power show to attend! That said, I have been doing a lot of other stuff with the Cannibal Cheerleader brand as of late. I made the logo you see up there (probably temporary but I think it’s cool nonetheless), I registered on Last.fm (last.fm/cannibalcheer), and I finally got up the Myspace page! The URL is myspace.com/cannibalcheerleader and if you like what’s going on here you should friend me!

With all this updating going on, I really should reemphasize to any readers out there, that one of my main passions of this blog is to open up some windows for shooting live rock and roll. I love it, it’s my passion, and I think I’m pretty good at it too! If your band or any band you know of needs some filming done, tell them to get in touch, I’d love to help them out! I’m an independent videographer right now and would love to make a living out of this so just get in touch with me (cannibalcheerleader@gmail.com). Of course, if you just have news tips or something similar for the blog, let me know! Hope to hear from people soon!

On a lighter note, here’s Cannibal Cheerleader’s new mascot (besides the chainsaw of course) – Claire from Heroes, haha! Save the cheerleader, save the *music* world!

Comment folks!