The Mars Volta – “Cotopaxi”
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BILL CALLAHAN IN AUSTIN
Last Friday at Waterloo Records here in Downtown Austin local freak-folk hero Bill Callahan (aka Smog) performed some tracks from his new, hypnotic LP Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle to a hushed and reverent Texas audience. Marking a return to the darker days of his lo-fi cassette recordings, Callahan kept a crowded record store absolutely rapt with attention as he lightly strummed and picked through literary and intricate tracks. If you haven’t heard the new LP, definitely grab it from this Austin legend.
Bill Callahan – “Jim Cain”
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NEW CELEBRATION SONGS
Check out the new website from Cannibal Cheerleader favorites Celebration – it’s called Electric Tarot and it’s based on the idea that the 22 tracks from their latest LP of the same name are related to the 22 major archana of the Tarot deck. Their site will feature a full deck with cards being added over time. Studio recordings will be the major archana, home recordings the minor, and the Court cards will be Celebration videos. Sounds like a really cool idea to us, check out the mp3s and videos below for the first two songs, “What’s This Magical” (The Shaman/Magician Card) and “I Will Not Fall” (The Fool Card). Awesome stuff.


Celebration – “What’s This Magical”
Celebration – “I Will Not Fall”
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NEW BLOC PARTY VIDEO
Here’s the video for the Villains’ remix of “Ares” as featured on Bloc Party’s Intimacy: Remixed LP. It’s an all cell-phone-camera production recorded from two nights at London’s Olympia Theater. Very cool idea and even better realization. Take a look below.

Bloc Party – “Halo (We Have Band Dub)”

Comments?

Spoon – “Don’t Make Me A Target”

NEW BLOC PARTY REMIX ALBUM
The new Bloc Party album features the choicest cuts from remixes from the band’s catalogue to date. While Silent Alarm Remixed, while awesome, may have suffered from some fluff, the feeling that immediately arises from Intimacy Remixed is judiciousness, a carefully selected assortment of tracks featuring the best collage of dub, club bangers, dream-pop, and the signature Bloc Party spidery indie-rock. One of our favorite releases so far this year, check it.

Bloc Party – “Halo (We Have Band Dub)”
Bloc Party – “Ion Square (Banjo Or Freakout Remix)”

NEW GOD HELP THE GIRL ALBUM
With rumors abound that Glasgow indie-poppers Belle & Sebastian may be down for the count, it came as a great relief to learn about God Help The Girl, a storyline-driven twee-opera side project from wunderkind B&S frontman Stuart Murdoch. Featuring lilting indie classics like “Come Monday Night” and mixing in slow-burning rockers like “I Just Want Your Jeans” (featuring Asya from Smoosh, who we love by the way), God Help the Girl seems a natural progression from the more progressive-pop of the Life Pursuit. Here’s hoping it’s not the band’s swan song!

God Help The Girl – “I Just Want Your Jeans”
God Help The Girl – “A Down And Dusky Blonde”

Comments? Send encouraging emails, I’ve had to write this post several times.

PS. It has come to our attention that the Peacock is now allowing everyone 18+ to attend the event, so if you’re over 18 but under 21 you can attend but not drink. Spread the word!

12:45pm – Vermillion Lies
1:30pm – Treasure Mammal
2:15pm – Agent Ribbons
3:00pm – Prey For Sleep
3:45pm – The Action Design
4:30pm – The Whispertown 2000
5:15pm – Rolo Tomassi

Top ten reasons to go to the Cannibal Cheerleader Blood Bath:

10. Vermillion Lies leaves to go support Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls after SXSW – Don’t you want to tell your friends you got in before they were big??

9. Treasure Mammal is a hip-hop/experimental artist and motivational speaker and in a live setting that’s every bit as cool as it sounds.

8. Agent Ribbons play Victorian punk – they didn’t even have punk back then but it would’ve been as badass as this, no doubt.

7. Prey For Sleep are following an indie punk band, so we hope a few clueless hipsters will get their faces literally ripped off for cool effect.

6. Action Design = former members of Tsunami Bomb, need we say more?

5. Whispertown 2000, the only folk-rock band with enough cajones to play the same stage as metal acts – seriously bloody indie rock.

4. First ever Rolo Tomassi performance in the United States! FIRST EVER!!

3. Issue #3 of the Cannibal Cheerleader zine available at our merch table, along with CC stickers and possible a Marnie-Stern-style kissing booth!

2. Meet your friendly Cannibal Cheerleader staff, who are way cooler than your average Austinites and can show you a better time in the ATX than 90% of these outside blogs/parties.

1. BLOOD, GUTS, AND GORE. LOTS OF IT. SERIOUSLY, FOUNTAINS.

Be there people, or be torn apart mercilessly.
Rolo Tomassi – “Fofteen”
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NEW MF DOOM ALBUM
All past transgressions are hereby forgiven, all the rumors, the poorly received live performances, it’s all in the past now that Atlanta emcee MF Doom (now apparently called DOOM, all caps son) has released BORN LIKE THIS. Seriously folks, this may just be the most consistently enjoyable Doom record since Madvillainy, and it features many of the same attributes, that is, short songs with atypical song structures and incredibly clever (not to mention extremely ill) wordplay and rhyming skills. MF Doom is back in fine form, rapping about the state of the hip-hop community, politics, and comic book characters, all in his trademark mush-mouthed, stream-of-conciousness flow. This, plus the sickest J-Dilla and MetalFingers beats this side of the Mississippi, combining bizarre instrumentation with fierce bass beats. Seriously, best hip-hop release of the year so far, no doubt at all. Definitely worth picking up and enough to put all the ’sucka emcees’ in their place, as Doom would say. Sometimes, the king of the world is also the biggest villain, check out some tracks below:

(deleted by request)
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BLOC PARTY ANNOUNCE REMIX ALBUM
According to this Stereogum post, Bloc Party will be releasing an Intimacy remix album (Intimacy Remixed) in May, mirroring their lauded Silent Alarm Remixed from back in the day. They’ve got some seriously heavy-weight remix artists contributing such as Mogwai and Phones so we’ll be looking forward to this one with great anticipation. Here is the (terrifyingly awesome and fittingly Cannibal Cheerleader) video for first single, the remix of standout track “Signs”. Definitely worth checking out, though to correct the Stereogum album that said there were no ancillary releases to A Weekend in the City – did you never get the b-side compilation album Another Weekend in the City? You’re missing out if you’ve never heard “Once and Future King”! Check it y’all:

Bloc Party – “Signs (Armand Van Helden Remix)”
Bloc Party – “The Once and Future King”

Comments? Whose coming out for the SXSW Blood Bath?