"Distortion" Rocks Rolling Stone

(myspace link) The Magnetic Fields' new album, Distortion, is getting great reviews, including a noteworthy 4 stars by Rolling Stone.

Check it out!

Of course, no magazine is as important as songwriter Stephen Merritt himself's opinion. What did he have to say about the new album?

"Three-Way," the opening song on Distortion, introduces, in a deceptively exuberant blast of pop noise, the themes and obsessions of Magnetic Fields' eighth album. The lyrics simply consist of gleefully repeated exclamations, by male and female voices, of the song title. While "Three-Way" may summon images of Twister-like physical exertions in a situation where three is not a crowd, the subsequent material describes scenarios in which desire itself is twisted into dark, alluring shapes and love remains tantalizingly unrequited. Using a modest number of instruments, composer and producer Stephin Merritt creates a veritable wall of sound. He employs no synthesizers; instead, he generates waves of feedback that envelop every track like a spiky black gift-wrapping.
"I wanted to make a record of three-minute pop songs, then they turned into three-minute power-pop songs," Merritt explains. "The previous Magnetic Fields record had been self-consciously soft rock, with all the songs starting with the letter 'i.' The idea here was to make this record quickly and use the same instrumentation on every song. And if I had to use the same instrumentation all the time, what would I want it to sound like? Well, like the first Jesus and Mary Chain album! So I attempted to adapt the sound of Psychocandy to the orch-pop reality of the Magnetic Fields, where we have a pianist and a cellist. And the occasional accordionist." courtesy Michael Hill

And make sure to catch them at the Majestic Theatre October 13! Tickets Here!

Listen to Amos

Amongst the great sea of copycats and has-beens that we refer to as the American songscape, there rises a great white whale, full of passion, well-fed on a steady diet of soul, folk, and melody, a skilled navigator of the audial waves that crash against his great stature.

His name is Amos Lee.



C'mon Ahab, don't miss your chance. September 20 at the Granada Theater, Dallas Texas.

- Tickets -

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Gets Lo-Fi

Calling all Dallas shoegazers: Black Rebel Motorcycle Club is on tour in support of their latest effort, Baby 81, and they will be at Club Dada this Friday, August 1st. As if that wasn't great enough news in and of itself, the group has decided to forgo their usual electrically charged rock affair in favor of a special acoustic set. We know a week is a long time to wait, so to hold you over in the meantime, here they are performing "Not What You Wanted" from Baby 81.





Get your tickets here while they're still available, we expect this to be a packed house.

Lucero Speaks

Exclaim TV recently interviewed Alt-Country Rockers Lucero, and we've got the video right here:



They'll be at Emo's next Friday (July 17th,) do yourself a favor and pick up tickets while they're still available!

HIERO!

Hieroglyphics, the underground hip-hop supergroup started by Del Tha Funkee Homosapien, is rolling through Emo's Next Saturday, July 19th!

The crew has been up to a lot as of late, members Opio and Architect have a new album dropping on July 15th. "Vulture's Wisdom" is a two-disc effort packed full of short films and music videos - almost one for every song! Clips are out, so of course, they're here:




But that's not all! Members of Hiero will be performing Saturday as Souls of Mischief, and you can check out John Mayer, Just Blaze and Kanye paying their various respects here:



Tickets available HERE, its gonna be sick!

Dizzee 1, The Queen 0

Dizzee Rascal has conquered Britain!

From DizzeeRascal.co.uk:

"Massive shout out to all my UK fans who supported and bought Dance Wiv Me feat. Calvin Harris and Chrome! It's gone to Number 1 in the UK Singles Charts and it's my first Number 1 so thank you for all the love and support you've shown me throughout my career, I couldn't of done it without you!

Bless"

Without further ado, here is the aforementioned chart topper:


Catch Dizzee at Emo's on Monday the 21st, Doors at 9, All Ages! Tickets available, as always, thru ticketweb.com

Skankin to the Bandits!

Ska, Reggae, Punk and Eclectiphiliacs rejoice, RX Bandits are coming to Emo's next Friday, July 18th, and they're bringing Portugal. The Man and Facing New York with them.

Tasty Media Morsels for your domes:


The video for the title track from the new RXB album "...And the Battle Begun"

Portugal. the Man's "And I"

Tickets are on sale now thru ticketweb.com, and I highly recommend they migrate from there to your hands.

Bauhaus' Peter Murphy is tearing it up on his new tour and getting great reviews.

Check it out here!

He'll be at Emo's outside July 11th, and so should you.

New mewithoutYou video

MewithoutYou has a new video out for "Nice and Blue (Part 2)" from their new album Brothers and Sisters, and you can check it out right here!



The guys are touring the nation in anticipation of the album's September 26th release on Tooth and Nail, and if you find yourself groovin, movin, or just wondering what they're all about, you can see them in the flesh at The Parish this Thursday with Maps & Atlases and Gasoline Heart.

DIRECT TICKET LINK, GO GET IT!!!