New single from Matt & Kim, "Cameras," coming soon

Matt & Kim; credit: mattandkimmusic.com

Matt & Kim have always been one of those bands that I've forever flirted with but never made a move on, despite their sexy tracks like "Good Ol' Fashion Nightmare" and "Daylight" which crop up constantly on my playlist like a phone number in a little black book that you always try to ignore.

But with the news that on August 31 the band will be releasing the first single, "Cameras", off their third full-length album, I might have to rethink our relationship. Why's that? This time, they've got producer Ben H. Allen on board, who has produced amazing albums such as St. Elsewhere (Gnarls Barkley), Merriweather Post Pavilion (Animal Collective), and one of my favorite recent albums, In the Dark (The Whigs). This new album is going to be ridiculously good.

Do yourself a favor and catch them on the road when they hit the pavement this fall, and stay tuned for the release of "Cameras".


North American Tour

Sept
15th Westcott Theater # - Syracuse, NY
16th Beachland Ballroom # - Cleveland, OH
17th Newport Music Hall # - Columbus, OH
18th Majestic Theater # - Detroit, MI
19th Metro # - Chicago, IL
21st Majestic Theater # - Madison, WI
22nd First Ave # - Minneapolis, MN
23rd The Granada Theater # - Lawrence, KS
24th Ogden Theater # - Denver, CO
25th Virgin Mobile FreeFest - Columbia, MD
27th The Rickshaw Theater - Vancouver, BC
28th Showbox * - Seattle, WA
29th Roseland Theater * -Portland, OR
30th The Fillmore * - San Francisco, CA

Oct
1st House of Blues * - San Diego, CA
2nd Music Box at The Henry Fonda Theater * - Los Angeles, CA
3rd Music Box at The Henry Fonda Theater * - Los Angeles, CA
6th The Clubhouse * - Tempe, AZ
8th House of Blues * - Dallas, TX
9th Austin City Limits - Austin, TX
11th The Lyric Oxford % - Oxford, MS
12th House of Blues % - New Orleans, LA
13th Club Downunder % - Tallahassee, FL
14th Culture Room ! - Fort Lauderdale, FL
15th State Theater ! - St. Petersburg, FL
16th Masquerade ! - Atlanta, GA
17th Exit In ! - Nashville, TN
19th Orange Peel ! - Asheville, NC
20th Cats Cradle ! - Carrboro, NC
21st The Canal Club ! - Richmond, VA
22nd 9:30 Club ! - Washington, DC
23rd Rams Head Live! ! - Baltimore, MD
24th Starlite Ballroom ! - Philadelphia, PA
26th Webster Hall ! - New York, NY
27th Webster Hall ! - New York, NY
28th Water St. Music Hall ! - Rochester, NY
29th Phoenix Theater ! - Toronto, ON
30th Le National ! - Montreal, QC
31st Northern Lights ! - Clifton, NY

Nov
2nd Higher Ground - Burlington, VT
3rd Port City Music Hall ^ - Portland, ME
4th House of Blues ^ - Boston, MA
5th Toad's Place ^ - New Haven, CT
6th Pearl Street Nightclub ^ - Northampton, MA

# w/ So So Glos
* w/ Fang Island
% w/ Big Freedia
! w/ Donnis
^ w/ Javelin

Learn more at mattandkimmusic.com

Drama Queen Axl Rose cancels tour via Twitter?

Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

I'm not sure who is a bigger drama queen: Brett Favre, or Axl Rose?

I'm not sure I even care at this point. Go ahead and play. You're old, and probably not going to be as good as expected.

Funny, that could apply to either one of them.

Frightened Rabbit fall tour

A few of my friends from back East and I recently stared a mix tape exchange in an attempt to infuse some new musical blood into our systems. To make things a bit more interesting, we are also using themes. The first was " Summer Bummer," and one of the tracks that made my list was Frightened Rabbit's "Swim Until You Can't See Shore," a great track.

I became interested in Frightened Rabbit after digging into some recent offerings from other Scottish artists who have been making a name for themselves in the indie scene lately, namely We Were Promised Jetpacks and The Twilight Sad (both of whom also made my Summer Bummer list, which makes me think that summers in Scotland aren't great?). The more I've listened to them, the more I've come to enjoy their sound.

If you haven't yet made the foray into the great Scottish bands on the scene today such as the ones listed above or the ones you may already know (Franz Ferdinand, Belle and Sebastian, etc) then spend a few minutes watching and listening to the music video for "Swim Until You Can't See Land" and see if that changes your perspective.

If you like what you hear, make sure you catch them on tour in fall at one of the following stops:

FRIGHTENED RABBIT ON TOUR

August 8 - Chicago, Ill. @ Lollapalooza
October 7 - Seattle, Wash. @ Showbox at the Market
October 8 - Vancouver, B.C. @ Vogue Theatre
October 9 - Portland, Ore. @ Wonder Ballroom
October 10 - San Francisco, Calif. @ The Fillmore
October 13 - Los Angeles, Calif. @ Mayan Theatre
October 14 - San Diego, Calif. @ House of Blues
October 15 - Anaheim, Calif. @ House of Blues
October 16 - Las Vegas, Nev. @ Beauty Bar
October 17 - Tempe, Ariz. @ The Clubhouse
October 19 - Dallas, Texas @ Loft @ Palladium Showroom
October 20 - Austin, Texas @ Stubbs BBQ
October 21 - Houston, Texas @ Walters
October 22 - New Orleans, La. @ Tipitina's
October 23 - Gainesville, Fla. @ Common Grounds
October 24 - Orlando, Fla. @ The Social
October 26 - Athens, Ga. @ 40 Watt Club
October 27 - Charlotte, N.C. @ Neighborhood Theatre
October 28 - Philadelphia, Pa. @ Starlight Ballroom
October 29 - Boston, Mass. @ Paradise
October 30 - New York, N.Y. @ Terminal 5
November 1 - Washington, D.C. @ 930 Club
November 2 - Pittsburgh, Pa. @ Diesel
November 3 - Detroit, Mich. @ Magic Stick

Nebraska Pop Festival

First things first. You need to stop reading this, click on "new window", and head over to Muzzle of Bees and wish Ryan congratulations on getting married this weekend. He and his wife Sarah are both lovely, wonderful people and I wish them the best.

All done? Good. Welcome back.

I've been spending time lately trying to play out how to spend the rest of the few remaining "good" weekends here in Wisconsin. Once you get into October, other than the promise of football season, it's pretty much downhill weather-wise until about April. I'm hoping to make it down to Milwaukee, Minneapolis, and Madison all before the snow flies.

Since Nebraska also has its share of poor winter weather, it might be a good time to plan on attending the upcoming Nebraska Pop Festival if you are around those parts.


The festival, slated to take place September 15-19, will feature 36 independent pop bands from all over the country, as well as some international acts like France's Alone with Everybody.

While there's no heavy hitters in the lineup, there will be a full schedule of music for five straight days, and each day is only $5. That's $25 bucks for 36 bands, a hard deal to beat.

Lineup and schedule below:

Nebraska Pop Festival 2010 lineup of performers

Saturday, August 28th (pre-festival show) @ Barley Street Tavern. Official start time 8:00PM with end time approximately 1:30AM (This show is 5 USD at the door) *21+

1. The Love Technicians (Omaha, Nebraska)
2. The Sleepover (Lincoln, Nebraska)
3. Platte River Rain (Omaha, Nebraska)
4. Mumford’s (Ames, Iowa)
5. I Am The Navigator (Lincoln, Nebraska)
6. The Renfields (Lincoln, Nebraska)


Wednesday, September 15th NIGHT ONE @ Barley Street Tavern. Official start time 8:00PM with end time approximately 1:30AM (This show is 5 USD at the door) *21+


1. Panda Face (Lincoln, Nebraska)
2. You’re So Cool (Gainesville, Florida)
3. Cleemann (solo) (Copenhagen, Denmark)
4. Coney Island (Madison, Wisconsin)
5. The Bedsit Infamy (Denver, Colorado)

Thursday, September 16th NIGHT TWO @ Barley Street Tavern. Official start time 8:00PM with end time approximately 1:30AM (This show is 5 USD at the door) *21+

1. You Don’t Know Me (Omaha, Nebraska)
2. Normandie Wilson (San Diego, California)
3. Boy Of Bark (Salt Lake City, Utah)
4. Dexter Poindexter (Wheeling, Illinois)
5. Electric Needle Room (Kansas City, Kansas)

Friday, September 17th NIGHT THREE @ The Pizza Shoppe Collective. Official start time 7:00PM with end time approximately 1:30AM (This show is 5 USD at the door) *ALL AGES

1. Floating Opera *ex Mercy Rule/ex The Millions (Lincoln, Nebraska)
2. Gilbe (Des Moines, Iowa & Chicago, Illinois)
3. Kissing Party (Denver, Colorado)
4. The Mother Z’s (Chicago, Illinois)
5. Seaside Stars (Berlin, Germany)
6. Alone With Everybody (Toulouse, France)
7. Thunder Power (Omaha, Nebraska)

Saturday, September 18th NIGHT FOUR @ The Pizza Shoppe Collective. Official start time 7:00PM with end time approximately 1:30AM (This show is 5 USD at the door) *ALL AGES

1. Eric In Outerspace (Omaha, Nebraska)
2. Mammoth Life (Lawrence, Kansas)
3. Matty Cries (Seattle, Washington)
4. Paris When It Sizzles! (Omaha, Nebraska)
5. James and the Express (Olympia, Washington)
6. Doug Hoyer (Edmonton, Canada)
7. Maid Marian (Iowa City, Iowa)

Sunday, September 19th FINAL NIGHT @ The Sydney. Official start time 7:00PM with end time approximately 1:30AM (This show is 5 USD at the door) *21+


1. The Open Letters *ex Apples In Stereo (Lexington, Kentucky)
2. Paper City (Long Beach, California)
3. Cleemann *full band (Denmark/Omaha & Lincoln Nebraska)
4. Modes of Resuscitation (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
5. Spencer McGillicutty (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
6. The Homestories (Winterthur, Switzerland)
7. The Wandering Bears (Iowa City, Iowa)

More info available at http://www.myspace.com/nebraskapopfestival