Make way for Mad Nanna (US/EU edition)

Ladies and germs, Mad Nanna are currently in the USA! The tour starts Thursday in Portland, but Mad Nanna is already here, ready to pounce. Euro folk must wait a few weeks, when MN join Sky Needle for a strings of gigs, but for now they're ours. Really chuffed to have them here at long last.

Some loose ends are being dealt with, but the gist of the tour is thus:

08/16 - Portland, OR - Little Axe Records (with Das Butcher)
08/17 - Davis, CA - Flea Space (with with Lazy, Darlingchemicalia, Satan Wriders)
08/18 - Los Angeles, CA - Synchronicity (with Queen Victoria, Filthy Huns)
08/20 - Jersey City, NJ - WFMU (live session on Brian Turner's show, 3 PM)
08/22 - Brooklyn, NY - Steve's Loft [252 Norman Ave, Greenpoint] (with Blues Control)
08/23 - Baltimore, MD - Club K (with Rosemary Krust, Mold Omen, Comfort Link)
08/24 - Philadelphia, PA - TBD (with Birds of Maya)
08/25 - Richmond, VA - TBD
08/26 - Columbus, OH - Cat Science Necromansion (with Pink Reason, The Bibs, Quiet Pepsi)
08/27 - Detroit, MI - M.U.G. (with Stare Case, The Bibs, DJ Kevin Boyer)
08/28 - Chicago, IL - Permanent Records (with The Bibs)
08/28 - Chicago, IL - The Burlington (with The Bibs, Matthew De Gennaro)
08/29 - Minneapolis, MN - Hexagon (with Myrrh, Rollerblade, & a film by Trevor Adams)
08/30 - Mankato, MN - What's Up Lounge
09/01 - Cleveland, OH - Now That's Class (with Scarcity Of Tanks, The Bibs)
09/03 - Allston, MA - Great Scott (with Richard Youngs, Damon & Naomi)
09/04 - Northampton, MA - King Street Manor (with Savage Young Taterbug, Tracey Trance)
09/05 - Hudson, NY - The Spotty Dog (with Pigeons)
09/11 - London, UK - Cafe Oto (with Sky Needle, The Pheromoans)
09/13 - Brighton, UK - Cowley Club (with Sky Needle, Sweat Tongue, Dylan Nyoukis, Pheromoans, Men Oh Pause)
09/14 - Manchester, UK - TBA
09/15 - Bristol, UK - Shh Festival (with Sky Needle and Yuko Kono)
09/19 - Amsterdam, NL - Icol (with Sky Needle, Sweat Tongue)
09/20 - Rotterdam, NL - Worm (Sky Needle, The Rebel)
09/21 - Hasselt, BE - KC Belgie (Sky Needle, Maan, Unwar, Joel Stern, Sweat Tongue, Films and Screenings)
09/26 - Paris, FR - TBA (with Sky Needle)
09/29 - Berlin, DE - TBA (with Sky Needle)


In celebration of the gigs, the boys will have a brand new single in tow from us (Soft Abuse) that features two new tunes worth chewing. The A side ("I Wanna See You") is a chugging anthem of desperation, and on the flip ("The Nectarine Tree") things get spacious and meditative in a real basement way. Great single. Pick it up from the band & soon from us (buy two), and be sure to go and see them...shower them with your coin and hospitality. 

A teaser for the single:



This post will probably not get updated beyond this point, so keep eyes peeled to the Soft Abuse events page or even twitter (good lord god) for the latest twists and turns. 

Pigeons share live studio session & tour, too!

The wonderful Bronx-based Pigeons are set to unleash their latest (and greatest) album, They Sweetheartstammers, via Soft Abuse on 8 November. In the meantime, the foursome (Wednesday Knudsen, Clark Griffin, Jason Meagher and Nathan Bowles) have hopped the pond for a few shows in the UK and Belgium. Pester your friends over there to check 'em out!

06 October - London - St Giles In The Fields (with Grouper, Chris Forsyth)
07 October - Newcastle - Tusk Festival (with Grouper, Bill Orcutt)
12 October - Brussels - Micro Marche


To satiate the hearts & minds of those that can't catch them in the coming days, we've got a special offering -- four live tracks the band laid down at Black Dirt Studios in late August (complete with ad hoc accompanying artwork by yours truly). Freshly uploaded to our SoundCloud page, here's all four songs for your enjoyment --

Pigeons - Live at Black Dirt by Soft Abuse

On The Road with Donovan Quinn

West coast heartbreaker / song-maker Donovan Quinn has left his perch in San Francisco to tour the east and midwest in support of Six Organs of Admittance (a solo Chasny). The gigs are nigh, please share with friends -

08/11 - Ithaca, NY - Delilah's
08/12 - New York, NY - Mercury Lounge
08/13 - Brooklyn, NY - Littlefield
08/15 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda's
08/16 - Washington, DC - DC9
08/17 - Charlottesville, VA - The Southern
08/19 - Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
08/20 - Atlanta, GA - The Earl
08/22 - Asheville, NC - Harvest Records
08/23 - Knoxville, TN - The Pilot Light
08/25 - Louisville, KY - Uncle Slayton's
08/26 - Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle

Horrd Red plot tour & prep new EP

Trans-continental post-punks HORRID RED release a new EP, Silent Party, in time for their debut live performances in June. This freshly hatched EP recorded March 2011 in Berlin & San Francisco, in anticipation of their summer tour, kicks off with the somewhat funky title track (it might be a fun party jam if it wasn't so creepy). From there it descends into the Red Western nightmare that is The Horror & The Cruelty, built on a galloping Wall of Voodoo beat & twangy guitars. Meanwhile the b-side mini-opus Marble Staircase Parts I & II comes on like a Colin Newman solo track, with atonal crooning over watery guitars, and dissolves into a morbid piano ballad (featuring Clay Ruby tickling the ivories). Tying it all together as always is Bunker Wolf's inimitable German-language rants & producer Edmund Xavier's high lonesome guitar melodies.

Horrid Red will make their live debut in June, as a six piece (!!), on a four-day trek through California. Yours truly is making the trip out to bear witness.

16 June - Sacramento, CA - The Hub (with Burial Hex, Ganglians)
17 June - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern (with Burial Hex, Brute Heart)
18 June - Santa Cruz, CA - Brookdale Lodge (with Brute Heart, Fresh & Onlys, Donovan Quinn)
19 June - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo / Part Time Punks

Pumice NZ tour with Eat Skull

Fresh off his performance at the Lines of Flight Fest in Dunedin, the mighty Pumice is set to rear up yet again, over the course of three nights in support of the always-great Eat Skull.

20 April - Wellington - Eat Skull, Pumice, Full Fuckn Moon @ Mighty Mighty
21 April - Whanganui - Eat Skull, Pumice @ Arc Theatre
23 April - Auckland - Eat Skull, Pumice (Borderline Music Fest) @ Whammy Bar

And here's a few short clips of Pumice's performance from Lines of Flight, a stellar three day festival that also included sets from The Futurians, Dead C, Alastair Galbraith, Seht, and heaps more. These snippets will appear in longer form on the upcoming Pumice full-length, due later in the year.

Pigeons / D Charles Speer live in New Orleans

Yours truly had the distinct pleasure of catching two Pigeons gigs last week, in Pensacola and New Orleans. Now a quartet with Jeason Meagher on bass and Nathaniel Bowles on drums, the band has never sounded better. I managed to snap a few photos in New Orleans of both Pigeons and D. Charles Speer ("solo trio"), who were touring behind the release of the new LP, Arghiledes, on Thrill Jockey.

In June

More info soon...

Pigeons live at The Empty Bottle, via Acid Marshmallow

Pigeons
November 2nd, 2010
at Empty Bottle in Chicago

More from our pal Acid Marshmallow, this time we've got video from their gig at The Empty Bottle on election night.
More videos and photos from the just-finished Pigeons tour are forthcoming...

Tonight in SF: Pigeons / Fabulous Diamonds / DQ13

Pigeons, Fabulous Diamonds and Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month are all playing tonight at Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco, preceded by an in-store at Aquarius Records. Thanks to Alice Cohen for the killer flier...

Pigeons live at Permanent Records, via Acid Marshmallow

Pigeons
November 2nd, 2010
at Permanent Records in Chicago

Thanks to our pals at Acid Marshmallow for sharing this video !

Pigeons US tour underway, new album Liasons due 16 November

Bronx sweetheart duo Pigeons are out on tour right now with Fabulous Diamonds, in support of their forthcoming third album, Liasons, due on Soft Abuse as CD/ LP / DL on 16 November. Here's their complete list of confirmed dates --

10/31 - Boston, MA - Spectacle
11/02 - Chicago, IL - Permanent Records in-store
11/02 - Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle (with Wet Hair, Running)
11/03 - Oberlin, OH - Oberlin College
11/04 - Iowa City, IA - White Lightning (with Wet Hair)
11/05 - Minneapolis, MN - Club Med (with Wet Hair, Shahs, Robust Worlds)
11/06 - Minneapolis, MN - Hexagon Bar (with Brute Heart, Leisure Birds)
11/07 - Omaha, NE - The Manor (with Wet Hair)
11/11 - Anacortes, WA - The Business Records in-store
11/11 - Bellingham, WA - NoHouse (with Jazz Magazine)
11/12 - Seattle, WA - Josephine
11/13 - Portland, OR - East End (with Monopoly Child Star Searchers)
11/16 - Sacramento, CA - The Hub
11/17 - San Francisco, CA - Aquarius Records in-store
11/17 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill (with Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month)
11/18 - Los Angeles, CA - Echo Curio (with Donovan Quinn)
11/19 - Irvine, CA - UC Irvine
11/20 - Phoenix, AZ - The Dressing Room (with Eddy Detroit)
11/23 - Houston, TX - Notsuoh
11/24 - New Orleans, LA - The Circle Bar (with Hosanna)
11/26 - Pensacola, FL - The Handlebar
11/27 - St. Augustine, FL - TBA
11/28 - Tallahassee, FL - The Farside (with Langtry)
11/29 - Atlanta, GA - Wonder Root
11/30 - Chapel Hill, NC - Nightlight (with Dan Melchior und Das Menace)

More dates may be confirmed, for the latest, check out Pigeons homepage here.

Liasons is the third Pigeons full-length, following on the heels of Si Faustine (released by Olde English Spelling Bee earlier this year), and 2008's Virgin Spectacle (on Black Dirt). Liasons finds the band in the midst of an enormous creative leap; the psychedelic chanson moves of previous releases now cohabit with spacious westcoast art-blues & wistful cosmic folk tunes, casually invoking Catherine Ribeiro, Brigitte Fontaine, Grim and Opal. Pigeons’ singular approach to structure, arrangements & production techniques - mirrored by the disruptive spelling of Liasons – culminate with Wednesday Knudsen and Clark Griffin lacing their songs with flute, saxophone, echo, drum machines and languid guitar lines. Liasons also includes two songs in French, one of which is a brilliant a take on Laisse Tomber les Filles (by Serge Gainsbourg). Artwork from Mary Nicholson appears throughout. We're now taking pre-orders for Liasons, all of which will ship to arrive before the release date...

Also in time for the tour, we've released a 7" single (Visions of the Valley), pressed in an edition of 200, and have printed up some Pigeons shirts as well. Click here to preview or purchase the single, and click here for shirt info. The band will have plenty of each to sell at their gigs as well...

The Deadnotes "Orange Trumpet" now available / Brisbane gigs this weekend

The Deadnotes are Eugene Carchesio, Stuart Busby and Leighton Craig, from Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Armed with an arsenal of trumpet, guitar, drums, casio & vocal moans, the trio make glorious, semi-spontaneous eccentric pop music that’s drawn comparisons (rightly or wrongly) to the likes of Ennio Morricone, Maher Shalal Hash Baz, The Magic Band, Moondog and even The Minutemen. Since their formation in 2005, the band has written and recorded hundreds of miniature odes to this & that, some of which have seen release in limited CDR editions on Craig’s Kindling imprint. The 30 tracks that comprise Orange Trumpet, the trio's defining statement, are amongst their earliest creations. A jaunty melancholy that echoes Tenniscoats & The Grow-Up, is present throughout, regardless if the boys are shuffling thru haunted dirges, garage-y workouts, or other points in between. Carshesio's classic recordings as DNE are undeniably a touchtone here as well...

The Legend(!)ary Everett True said the following about The Deadnotes:

“[W]hat attracted me to this band on first sight – trained in the “school of error” as practised by Maher Shalal Hash Baz and all those other naive orchestral delights, accomplished keyboards man Leighton Craig of the firm belief that where drummers went wrong was when they first started crossing their arms over – is what still attracts me to them: belief, brevity, melody, resonance, a fondness (acquired from having lived through it) for the early 80s post-Go-Betweens/early Fall mannerisms of derelict Brisbane nightclubs. Stuart Busby not only wields a trumpet like Brighton’s own Alistair Strachan (Hamilton Yarns, Crayola Lectern) but understands the absolute necessity of controlling (or not controlling) the sound. Guitarist/drummer Eugene Carchesio – an accomplished, exhibited visual artist in his own right – much favours the “play once, move on” approach to creating and inventing new songs that can’t help attract simple me. One of Eugene’s favourite musicians is Jad Fair. How can I argue with that?
…. Too often noise musicians deliberately eschew melody – as if to admit for a fondness for such is a weakness. The Deadnotes are as unreconstructed and wilfully abstract as the most experimental among us, but at the heart of the music is (usually) a melody, a structure, a beating heart.”

Orange Trumpet is released in an edition of 400 numbered LP copies with full color jackets, and may be purchased here.

The band have a few gigs in Brisbane this weekend -
08/28 - Brisbane, QLD - The Step Inn
(with The Legend!, Kitchen's Floor, Alps)
08/30 - Brisbane, QLD - Tidy Art Space
(with The Legend!, Yout Dem)

Grouper & Pumice : NZ tour / split 7"

Grouper (Liz Harris) and Pumice (Stefan Neville) are set to join forces on a tour of Neville's New Zealand homeland in March. To commemorate this event, Soft Abuse (in conjunction with the artists themselves) will release a tour 7" single, which is strictly limited to 500 copies & features exclusive new songs. Grouper's contribution, 'Rising Height,' is a gorgeous example of her elongated Kendra Smith-esque fuzzy drone craft. Pumice gives us 'Twin Neck Double Kick Bum Chin,' a new song that could've fit well on Quo. The single will be officially available on 24 March (as well as all NZ gigs), and is currently available for pre-order here.

Confirmed tour dates are as follows -

03/12 - Auckland, NZ - Whammy Bar
03/13 - Wanganui, NZ - The Stink Magnetic Record Co.
03/14 - Wellington, NZ - Happy (with Seht)
03/15 - Wellington, NZ - SpaceThing (with The Ghastlies)
03/19 - Christchurch, NZ - Saint Lukes (with Roy Montgomery)
03/21 - Port Chalmers, NZ - Chicks Hotel (with CJA & Smokehouse)

DQ13 at CMJ in NYC (& beyond)

Donovan Quinn - friend to dogs, lover of all things October, writer & singer of songs - is making his first solo trek out east today for the annual CMJ fest. Donovan Quinn & the 13th Month are making several appearances over the course of the fest; read on to find out when & where. For the east coast shows, the 13th Month consists of DQ (guitar, voice), Nick Marcantonio (bass) and Pete Nolan (the drums). Jason Quever will be back behind the kit for the band's headlining homecoming gig in early November -

10/23 - Brooklyn, NY - The Bell House
(Gothamist CMJ showcase, 2 PM)
10/23 - New York, NY - Piano's
(ForceField PR CMJ showcase, 8 PM)
10/24 - New York, NY - Cake Shop
(Chouette CMJ showcase)
10/25 - Boston, MA - P.A.'s Lounge
(with D. Charles Speer & the Helix, King Darves, Moore & Sons)
11/05 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern
(with Lazarus, The Sarees)

Look for more west coast dates (hopefully with Lazarus) before too long...

Donovan will also be playing with The Skygreen Leopards in support of Woods in a few weeks...

11/13 - San Francisco, CA - Amnesia
(with Woods)

RIP small silver guitar

Stefan Neville via the Rose Quartz blog -

"When i arrived back in Auckland last week the small silver guitar got smashed in the flight. I think i can piece it back together but it wont tour again which means the end of Pumice as we know it."

Please note that Stefan hasn't decided to call it quits - he's simply not able to play live with his signature axe...

Pumice in USA '08

Stefan Neville is currently on tour in the USA; this marks only his second tour of these parts. Current tour dates are below- we expect more will fall into place in the week ahead.

05/26 - New York, NY - Cake Shop (with King Darves, Car Commercials)
05/29 - Brooklyn, NY - Union Pool (with Enos Slaughter, Marcia Bassett, Folk Spectre)
06/04 - Providence, RI - Looney Bin (with Goat of Arms)
06/10 - San Francisco, CA - Aquarius Records (in-store, 6 PM)
06/11 - San Francisco, CA - Hemlock Tavern (with Some Dark Holler)
06/14 - Davis, CA - 1114 Cypress

To commemorate Stefan journey over here, we've printed a limited number of tour shirts. Most of these were sent to him directly, though a few are for sale via the Soft Abuse web site (while they last). Stefan made the drawing; depicted is an alternate universe Pumice roadie, caught in the act of of the rock n' sway. Beautiful.

To purchase or see a photo, merely click here.

Pants Yell!: Live at Cake Shop

Two excellent YouTube clips from the recent Pants Yell! gig at Cake Shop have surfaced - check out the boys in action!!



"Two French Sisters" (above)



"Kids are the Same" (above)

They've got a few upcoming shows of note & more on the way (in due time). In addition, Pants Yell!'s Andrew Churchman will be performing a solo radio session on WMBR on March 25. Be sure to tune in!

03/25 - Cambridge, MA - WMBR radio session
04/05 - Philadelphia, PA - Phi Lam at UPenn
(with A Place to Bury Strangers, Japanther)
04/06 - New York, NY - Club Midway (4 PM)
(with My Teenage Stride)
04/17 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
(with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone)

Pumice & Chadborne on Tyfus Radio!

Dennis Tyfus recently posted two Pumice sessions from his radio show, Radio Centraal, one of which features Stefan with Eugene Chadborne & their cover of Beefheart's 'Orange Claw Hammer.' Hear it all here.

Pumice's session for VPRO should be online shortly.

And lastly, the remaining Pumice European tour dates (with some new additions) -

03/11 - Tampere, Finland - Vastavirta
03/12 - Helsinki, Finland - GALLERY MYYMÄLÄ2
03/13 - Turku, Finland - TVO (with Avarus)
03/27 - Tromsø, Norway - Kaos
03/28 - Oslo, Norway - Sofiengberg Church
03/29 - Stavanger, Norway - Tou
04/01 - Gothenborg, Sweden - Underjorden
04/05 - Mogliano Veneto, Italy - Filandia Motta
04/06 - Solighetto, Italy - Villa Brandolin

Pants Yell!: Live!! In Person!!

The three young men of Pants Yell! have awoken far before the end of winter for a string of shows around the northeast in the coming weeks and months. Its been quite a while since htey graced a stage, so cheer 'em on if you're around any of these locales on these dates -

02/22 - New York, NY - Cake Shop
03/08 - Annandale-on-Hudson, NY - Bard College
(with Ponies in the Surf)
04/05 - Philadelphia, PA - Phi Lam at UPenn
04/17 - Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs
(with Casiotone for the Painfully Alone)

In other PY news, the group's most recent effort, Alison Statton, has just been issued in Australia and New Zealand courtesy of the venerable Popfrenzy label.

Pumice puffs through Europe

Good ol' Stefan Neville (AKA Pumice) is out on the road in Europe after a string of dates in Japan. The road warrior has quite a bit planned for 2008, including another visit to the USA for gigs in late summer. First things first, though, and that's his current European jaunt, which finds him zig-zagging across the continent & sharing bills with everyone from Los Llamarada to Lydia Lunch. If you're able, go & see him and fall in love, and buy him a pint while you're at it.

More dates are coming together here & there, and will be posted as confirmed. His MySpace page is another good spot to look for tour dates (and other bits of info).

Tour dates -

02/04 - Paris, France - La Miroiterie
(with Los Llamarada) (poster below)
02/08 - Hasselt, Belgium - Kunstencentrum Belgie
(with Truman's Water)
02/11 - Geneve, Switzerland - à l’Etage # 6
02/12 - Lyon, France - Sonic Lyon
(with Lydia Lunch)
02/13 - Grenoble, France - 102 Rue d'Alembert
02/14 - Bordeaux, France - La Centrale
02/15 - Nantes, France - The Barakason
(Cable Festival)
02/27 - Amsterdam, Netherlands - VPRO
02/28 - Antwerp, Netherlands - Scheldapen
(with Eugene Chadborne)
03/01 - Berlin, Germany - Madame Claude
(with The Shitty Listener)
03/11 - Tampere, Finland - Vastavirta
03/12 - Helsinki, Finland - GALLERY MYYMÄLÄ2
03/13 - Turku, Finland - TVO
(with Avarus)
03/27 - Tromsø, Norway - Kaos
03/28 - Oslo, Norway - Sofiengberg Church
03/29 - Stavanger, Norway - Tou