hello beloved listeners…
Stars have returned to the studio to start work on our 5th (!) album, tentatively titled The Black House, The Blue Sky. We’re working in Hotel2Tango, the magical mile end house of music put together by the legendary Godspeed/Mount Zion/Constellation records crew. It’s pretty fucking inspiring in there as you can imagine; so much great music has been made there, and Ephraim and Thierry and Howard and all the people involved in the space are such true musicians, such lovers of music, that you cant help but feel focused and inspired when you walk in the building. We feel lucky to have checked into the hotel…. Plus there are more great dogs roaming around that place than we have seen possibly ever, and you know, when there are great dogs around, you can be sure there are some great people around to tell them to stop chasing squirrels and sneak them pieces of baguette.. We are also truly blessed to have Tom McFall back with us as co-producer. Tom worked on Set Yourself On Fire with us, and since then has been enormously in demand, working with such bands as R.E.M., Bloc Party and Snow Patrol. So we are truly honoured he’s slumming it with us; Tom is a true artist, a true friend, and….well, he’s cookies and cold milk. We fucking love him.There’s a lot of synthesizers in the room, and a lot of love in the air. We think this combination of emotions running high and machines running hot is going to be pretty amazing.…fingers crossed..until then, we have a newish tune up on myspace, entitled division, culled from the original six and a half hour version of In Our Bedroom After The War, and we’ll be sending more songs you haven’t heard out into the ether in the coming months, so keep your ears open. Meanwhile, Amy and Torq continue to chug toward the finish line with their respective solo joints, with Amy in the lead by…oh, about three miles…..and, god help us, we have been told to twitter. So twitter we will…go to the twitter thingy and search “youarestars” and then sit back and wait for Torq to say something stupid….We are also extremely excited to be working with Danny Goldberg as our new manager. google the dude. He’s a fucking legend. His only weakness: he’s a Yankees fan. But at this point, you gotta feel more sorry for them than anything….We feel lucky these days. And even if everything goes wrong, i think we’re gonna keep feeling that way. Cause after all this time, and all these tears, we’re still drinking together and playing together and making fun of each other and everyone else….and that’s something to be thankful for….check you soon loves,
xostars

Stars – “Undertow”
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WATCH FULL CONVERGE CONCERT
Check out this incredible recording of our favorite hardcore act Converge at Burning Fight from Hate5Six Productions. Great stuff, lean back and soak it up over the weekend. Still can’t wait for the new full-length, details forthcoming…

Converge (Burning Fight, Phase 1) from hate5six productions on Vimeo.

Converge – “Locust Reign (live)”
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HEARTLESS BASTARDS LIVE TRACKS
Lastly here are some sweet live renditions by the Heartless Bastards of some tracks from their excellent new LP The Mountain via Luxury Wafers. Check out the video below.

Heartless Bastards – The Mountain – Luxury Wafers Sessions from Luxury Wafers on Vimeo.

The Heartless Bastards – “Out At Sea (live)”

Comments? We’ve been getting a lot of good feedback recently so here’s another question for the CC faithful – we’ve been doing three hefty updates a week as opposed to five little ones on each weekday but which method would you actually prefer? Smaller daily updates or substantial thrice-weeklies? The danger of everday updates is that sometimes we find ourselves repeating the blogosphere at large (f*ck that) but we want to give you the reader what you want. Suggestions? Hail to the horror people, seeya Monday!

Pearl Jam
Dave Matthews Band
Beastie Boys
Kings of Leon
Ben Harper and Relentless7
Thievery Corporation
John Legend
The Dead Weather
The Levon Helm Band
Ghostland Observatory
Sonic Youth
Mos Def
Toadies
Flogging Molly
The B-52s
Lily Allen
Citizen Cope
Arctic Monkeys
The Decemberists
Coheed and Cambria
Andrew Bird
Girl Talk
STS9 (Sound Tribe Sector 9)
Phoenix
Bassnectar
Bon Iver
!!!
The Avett Brothers
The Airborne Toxic Event
Medeski, Martin & Wood
Clutch
Michael Franti & Spearhead
Grizzly Bear
Heartless Bastards
Passion Pit
White Lies
Dan Auerbach
The Walkmen
The Scabs
Reckless Kelly
Devotchka
Blitzen Trapper
The Virgins
Here We Go Magic
Eek-A-Mouse
K’ Naan
Asleep at the Wheel
Dr. Dog
The Raveonettes
The Knux
Black Joe Lewis & the Honeybears
State Radio
Los Amigos Invisibles
The Felice Brothers
Federico Aubele
Raul Malo
Daniel Johnston
Poi Dog Pondering
Brett Dennen
Rodriguez
Henry Butler
Preservation Hall
Sam Roberts Band
The Greencards
Sara Watkins
Walter “Wolfman” Washington
David Garza
John Vanderslice
Zac Brown Band
Todd Snider
School of Seven Bells
The Dodos
Robyn Hitchcock and the Venus 3
Alberta Cross
Deer Tick
Bell X1
Alela Diane
The Wood Brothers
The Parlor Mob
Rebirth Brass Band
Marva Wright
Terri Hendrix
L.A.X.
Lisa Hannigan
The Low Anthem
Sons of Bill
Suckers
Sarah Jaffe
Cotton Jones
The Henry Clay People
Papa Mali
Jypsi
Vince Mira
Jonathan Tyler & the Northern Lights
Mimicking Birds
Jeffrey Steele
Jonell Mosser
Leatherbag
Keith Gattis
Damien Horne
Sarah Siskind
Dexateens
Nelo
Danny Brooks
Reverend Peyton’s Big Damn Band
The Soul Stirrers
The Durdens
Palm School Elementary
The Gospel Silvertones
Diaconos
Quinn Sullivan
Ralph’s World
Q Brothers
Milkshake
Telephone Company
Loose Cannons
Lunch Money

INTERVIEW WITH THE ACTION DESIGN

CC: What is the Action Design all about? Why did you choose to continue to make music after your last band [Tsunami Bomb] broke up?

M: The Action Design is about having fun, just like all bands should be. After Tsunami Bomb broke up, I wanted to keep making music because otherwise there would have been a huge void in my life — it’s really a part of me now. Also, after ending a band, you have somewhat of a clean slate to work with; a little more freedom to do what you want.

Read more at the bottom of this update and stay tuned when the entire interview gets published next week as the cover story for the Cannibal Cheerleader zine issue #2.

The Action Design – “Landmines”
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NEW JENNY LEWIS ACID TONGUE VIDEOOver the weekend we stumbled across a video of our Rilo Kiley favorite Jenny Lewis showing off a tune from her newest LP Acid Tongue to Death Cab for Cutie frontman Ben Gibbard. Check it out below. Where can we get a hold of some Acid Tongue balloons?

Jenny Lewis – “The Big Guns”
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TRYOUTS: STARS’ SAD ROBOTS
Over the weekend we received our copy of the tracks from the new EP Sad Robots by Canadian indie-poppers Stars and to say that the songs represent a real return to form, with soft tender instrumentation and whispered vocals on alienation and loss, couldn’t be more correct. Of course we loved last year’s In Our Bedroom After the War, but we can’t help but dig up our old Nightsongs LP when we spin songs like “Undertow” and “14 Forever” through our headphones. It’s no coincidence it seems that Stars paired a live version of Nightsongs‘ standout “Going, Going, Gone” with these new miniature masterpieces, and it seems fitting that the band return to their more minimalist roots in the form of an EP of tiny vignettes. This EP definitely makes the Cannibal Cheerleader team though it will probably develop an impossible-to-fulfill crush on the head quarterback and write tender love notes to stick in his locker all year.

Stars – “A Threat Cut With A Carving Knife”
Stars – “Undertow”
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THE ACTION DESIGN INTERVIEW CONT’DHere’s the rest of that Action Design interview! Be sure and catch the band when they swing through Austin on Sept. 10th at Red 7 and come pick up new issues of the Cannibal Cheerleader Zine #2 available at the show!

CC: In contrast to some of Tsunami Bomb’s tracks, the Action Design employs a greater range of musical influences, including dance-rock, and utilizes your vocal range more. Why the change in style and what are your influences for this exciting new brand of punk rock? Does maturity play a factor?

M: The change in style is mainly because, given the chance to start a new band, the music may as well be more open and versatile. It’s nice to have the opportunity to make music in a different way than I’m used to. As for maturity, I’m not sure how much of a factor it is. I guess my own musical taste may have matured, although the basis of everything we write is simple and straightforward in the same way Tsunami Bomb was. I still love catchy melodies!

CC: Explain to us your songwriting process in the Action Design. Where do you draw your lyrics from? Personal experience, life on the road, the punk rock lifestyle? Where does it all come from?

M: Usually, we each write our own parts but we also write all together — one person will come to practice with a simple idea for a part. We’ll all work on that part together, adding more to it as a group. Then, when the body of the music is written, I’ll take it home and work out lyrics and melody to it. We usually adjust it a few more times after that, until everyone is confident with the song. Most all of my lyrics are drawn from personal experience. I have written lyrics from someone else’s perspective, but it’s always easier to write about what I know. A lot of times I end up writing about people I know; the ones who make me feel any certain emotion (aside from love… I’m not too much of a romantic poet).

CC: Over the years what have you noticed about your fanbase that interests you the most? Has it changed significantly from Tsunami Bomb to the Action Design? Has it stayed generally consistent? More girls or boys? Are you gaining a larger base now as tAD? How have things like Myspace and the Internet changed how you talk with your fans?

M: Well, right now it’s still difficult to categorize the fanbase for the Action Design. We haven’t played enough repeat shows around the country yet to get a good grasp on who they are. My assumption is that a lot of the people at our shows are Tsunami Bomb fans as well, only because we haven’t had an overwhelming amount of press or ads for the Action Design yet. We don’t have as many fans as Tsunami Bomb did — we have only done a handful of tours, so we’ve still got groundwork to do before we reach that level. I’d like to say our fanbase contains an equal amount of girls and boys, but I think the girls may be tipping the scale a little. Myspace has been great for us — it’s such an easy way to connect to fans. I really enjoy communicating directly with them, as opposed to a manager or someone else maintaining our site.

CC: You’ve been in the business of making punk music for over a decade now, what are some of the trials and tribulations of that life? If you could go back would you do it all again? Is it ultimately rewarding and do you feel your message gets out there? What is the message? You’ve seen bands come and go, why have you stuck around?

M: The touring life is not for everyone. I think ultimately that’s what breaks up a lot of bands. Everyone has to be extremely tolerant of everyone else’s personalities if it’s going to work. It’s tiring, can be lonely, you’re broke a lot… that’s the trials and tribulations side. Of course, if you’re the right kind of person, touring is one of the most fun experiences ever. Aside from touring, there’s a lot of crap that goes on behind the scenes which can make things stressful, difficult and depressing. Money runs everything, and there’s pretty much no way around it. But yes, in the end it IS rewarding in many ways. Music is one thing that makes people happy, and it’s very addicting to be part of that. I would definitely do it all again. I may do some things a little differently, but I would do it again! I wouldn’t give up my experiences for anything. That’s why I’ve stuck around as a musician. I want to fill my life with great experiences, and this is one way that I know how to do so.

CC: Big question – what happened to Tsunami Bomb? Was it the pressure of the music business? Inner tension? So many bands break up for so many reasons and I understand it can be hard to talk about, but can you fill us in on whatever details you’re comfortable with? Do you feel like the band is well-respected now only because you’ve broken up?

M: Tsunami Bomb broke up for many small reasons. Most of them are business-related, the details of which are pretty boring. Basically, things were not going as we had planned, so we sat down and discussed the band from a completely business standpoint. We resolved that our unhappiness caused by the business side of things outweighed our happiness of playing music in Tsunami Bomb. We also had no way of changing course. Therefore, it was pointless for us to keep playing. I don’t feel like the band was ever very well-respected from the standpoint of the music community, but that’s probably because I try my best to not pay attention to what people think. I don’t feel like we were disrespected either — I feel more like we weren’t really part of the “scene” in general.

CC: Tell us the process behind Into A Sound and Never Say. What are some of your favorite songs and what do these releases mean to you? What are their respective themes and what goes into committing a set of songs to tape?

M: Into a Sound feels like a weird pre-album collection to me — we kinda threw all the first songs we’d written together and called it an ep. It was a little scary, starting a new band, not being completely confident, never having played a show together. My favorite songs off of the ep are “Connect/Disconnect”, “City Committee”, and “Scissor Game”. It’s kind of a mish-mash of songs, written by various members, recorded by various engineers. The theme of the ep is probably “is this going to work??” When it came time to record Never Say, we knew ourselves a lot better musically as a group. We felt confident in our song writing and our decisions on which songs to include on the record. The process for that one was that we just wrote, rewrote and rewrote again. We kept going with the songs until we felt they were complete. My favorite songs are probably “Pale Horizon”, “Tokyo Train”, “Could Not Should”, “Lounge in Formation”… it’s tough to decide with the new songs because they’re all still pretty new. The theme for Never Say (at least lyrically) is probably “Do what you’ve always dreamed of doing… because who knows when the world is going to blow up?!!”

The Action Design – “Half A World”

Comments?

Crystal Castles – “Death (White Lies Remix)”
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FINAL BE YOUR OWN PET SHOW VIDEOS
Sad as we were that one of our favorite acts of the day Be Your Own Pet broke up, we’re happy to report they left behind a trail of death and misadventure to rival the best punk acts of the day, and these videos from their final show ever prove it. Check them out below and godspeed you black-hearted punksters, we hope to see you again soon!
“Super Soaked”

“Heart Throb”

Be Your Own Pet – “Hillmont Avenue”
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STARS ANNOUNCE NEW EP
According to Pitchfork and confirmed by visiting the Sad Robots website, our favorite Canadian indie-poppers Stars are releasing a new EP entitled Sad Robots. Tracklist below, featuring five new songs and a live version of “Going Going Gone” off of Nightsongs.

01 Maintenance Hall, 4am
02 A Thread Cut With a Carving Knife
03 Undertow
04 Going, Going, Gone (live)
05 14 Forever
06 Sad Robot

Stars will be playing this year’s ACL festival (last time they came they played against Wolf Parade so I had to miss them, not this time!) so don’t miss them when they swing through Austin!

Stars – “Why I Want To Save You”
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CANNIBAL CHEERLEADER VS. RNC
We didn’t post on Thursday for two reasons – one, very slow news day, not much to talk about. But second, we were busy planning our Cannibal Cheerleader protest trip to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Those familiar with us know that we’re first and foremost filmmakers (liberal ones at that) so we’re going to document the events of the RNC protests and bring them back to Texas (see, we’re not all rednecks down here!). We will be out of pocket until next Friday, but tomorrow I plan on writing mini-updates for the rest of next week. Because these will be very bare and pretty unsubstantial updates, next week is being declared ‘Vegetarian Week’ here at Cannibal Cheerleader. Fear not, I shall return with cool videos in tow and what’s more, if I find myself with an internet connection up there I’ll be sure and do a few quick updates. Any comments on this situation? Would anyone prefer I not go? Speak now or hold your peace! See you all in St. Paul!

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TRYOUTS: NAS’ UNTITLED
It must be hard to capture a moment in time on record, when all the feelings, the culture, the zeitgeist of the moment coalesces on one singular album. Nas‘ Untitled however, a fantastic followup to 2006’s Hip Hop Is Dead and perhaps his best post-Illmatic album, genuinely captures the fear, the hypocrisy, and the madness that is today’s America, and in doing so has crafted perhaps the best record of the year. Whereas his collaboration with DJ Green Lantern produced tracks of great bombast and excitement, Untitled is a calculated affair, placing intellectual verses over smooth, thoughtful beats with an air of critical thought and perhaps a hint of impending sadness. While The Nigger Tape was fantastic, Untitled transcends such accolades, not necessarily because it’s a better album outright but more so because its political statement is so bold as to suggest the message outweighs the medium. Nas has outshone even his own career-path on this defining album. Makes the team and is first in line for captain.

Nas – “You Can’t Stop Us Now”
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TRYOUTS: BECK’S MODERN GUILT
The good news about Beck’s new album Modern Guilt is that cuts like “Chemtrails”, so haunting and ethereal as to remind listeners of the artist’s magnum opus Sea Change, are peppered throughout the record. Tracks like “Orphans” (featuring Cat Power!) and “Youthless” transcend the middling territory of the past few Beck efforts and really standout as fantastic testaments to the power of the Odelayer’s freaky-folk ballads. However, the album, for all its effort to sound spare and stepped-down sounds at times a bit sleepy. Still, an award goes to Danger Mouse for recapturing the slacker nature of Beck’s lo-fi recordings. Makes the team though expect this one to get kicked from the team when the principal catches him under the bleachers making those special ‘Chemtrails’…

Beck – “Chemtrails”
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STARS’ BEDROOM UP FOR POLARIS AWARD
According to this Stereogum article Stars‘ album In Our Bedroom After the War is up for the preeminent Canadian music prize the Polaris Award, given to the best Canada-produced album regardless of sales. Definitely a great break for one of our favorite albums of last year which nonetheless continues to pop up this year. Great work Stars, we’ll see you at ACL!

Stars – “Window Bird”
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KANYE NEEDS ANGER MANAGEMENT?
Can’t a brother catch a break? Even Kanye’s management thinks he needs anger management according to this Rock Daily report. Sounds to me like a publicity stunt to help change the erroneous public opinion that a black man shouldn’t speak unless spoken too. Personally I like West’s outspoken nature but we’ll see how everyone feels when he’s Uncle Tomming it on your TV screen all night. Keep up the fight Kanye I say!

Kanye West – “Can’t Tell Me Nothing”

Comments people?

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?

Frightened Rabbit
Oxford Collapse
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NEW STARS “BITCHES IN TOKYO” VIDEO
One of our favorite releases of last year (as you can read from our first post ever) was Stars‘ In Our Bedroom After the War. It combined our love of well-honed and perfectly executed pop music with our penchant for subversive politics, all wrapped up with a little bit of rock and roll to boot. One of the best songs from that album was undeniably “Bitches In Tokyo” so it’s awesome to see that even a year after the album was released we have the band’s new video for this standout track. Check it out below and be sure and pick up the entire Stars’ discography (if you like music that is).
Bitches In Tokyo
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NEW BAND CHEER – PONYTAIL

We’ve heard the rumblings about Baltimore’s Ponytail for a while now. From their recent Pitchfork review all the way back to mixtapes circling the Internet from radio stations in Maryland. But it wasn’t until we heard the band’s newest LP Ice Cream Spiritual, a bricolage of pop-punkery and noise-rock mashed into a rainbow cataclysm of sound and fury, that we decided to throw our full weight behind this great act. Truth be told Ponytail is one of our favorite new bands of the year bar-none and we’ll be impressed to see what they’ve got in store as the year progresses. Word on the street is they’re one of the best live acts around so here’s hoping they swing through Austin! MP3s are sadly still down but here’s a video to tide you over and introduce you to their fantastic sound.
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TERROR THURSDAY – CREEPERS
One of the weirdest Terror Thursdays yet, Dario Argento’s Creepers (the American edit of Phenomena) stars Jennifer Connelly as the new girl in an all-female boarding school when murder mysteriously star occurring. Seemingly missing massive chunks of the plot due to perhaps a poor quality film print or bad editing (perhaps Phenomena is more complete?) the film nonetheless impresses with the Italian master’s signature artful kills and enough disgusting gore (pool of body parts and maggots anyone?) to impress even the most jaded horror fans. I give this one 3 out of 4 bloody pon-poms though it might get more when I rent the full version of the film. Look for the review in the future!

That’s it for this week folks! Hopefully mp3s will be back next week! Any comments?