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Exactly one month ago, I reviewed Reks‘s latest project, Straight, No Chaser and did not expect for him to come out with brand new music so fast. When you’re hungry, you’re hungry, and “Unlearn” will be on his next album called Rebelutionary, due out July 24th on Gracie Productions. The album will be released on vinyl, along with the trendy MP3 and CD formats and you are able to pre-order your copy right now via Amazon below.
What you are looking at is the official cover art for Long Slow Dance, The Fresh & Onlys‘s forthcoming 4th album scheduled for release on the 4th of September by Mexican Summer. Songs? Sure, this is the track listing:
1. 20 Days and 20 Nights
2. Yes or No
3. Long Slow Dance
4. Presence of Mind
5. Dream Girls
6. Fire Alarm
7. Executioner’s Song
8. No Regard
9. Euphoria
10. Foolish Person
11. Wanna Do Right By You
The band and the label are allowing fans to hear one track for now, called “Yes And No”. Click play.
The promo material for the album states that the project was “recorded on the same reel-to-reel that the influential Warren Zevon did “Werewolves of London”, but I think what they meant to say was the reel-to-reel tape machine, not the physical multi-track or master tape for the song. Otherwise, that might make major labels paranoid about their tape vaults.
What fans will not have to freak out about are these tour dates, where you will no doubt hear the new material.
July 21… San Francisco, CA (Phono Del Sol)
August 5… Big Sur, CA (Woodsist Fest: Henry Miller Library)
September 5… Santa Ana, CA (Constellation Room) *
September 6… San Diego, CA (Soda Bar) *
September 7… Los Angeles, CA (The Echo) *
September 8… San Francisco, CA (The Independent) *
September 9… Santa Cruz, CA (The Catalyst Atrium) *
September 11… Sacramento, CA (Ace of Spades) *
September 13V Portland, OR (Mississippi Studios) *#
September 14… Bellingham, WA (The Shakedown) *
September 15… Vancouver, BC (The Media Club) *
September 16… Seattle, WA Crocodile *
* = w/ Terry Malts
# = w/ Grass Widow
MV & EE are ready to see and play for you this summer, and it will include a stop at the Inner Mountain Festival in Asheville, North Carolina, which they are curating. This festival will be on July 14th and will also feature Von Himmel, Dredd Foole, The Michael Flower Band, Samara Lubelski, and Herbcraft. Here’s a look at the festival poster:
As for the rest of the tour dates, here:
July 9… Albany, NY – Helderberg House w/Burnt Hills, Parashi
July 10… Brooklyn, NY – Death by Audio ^
July 11… Philadelphia, PA, – Vox Populi ^
July 12… Richmond, VA Strange Matter ^
July 13… Durham , NC – Pinhook ^
July 14… Asheville, NC – Inner Mountain Festival @ The Grey Eagle %
July 15… Chapel Hill, NC – Nightlight ^
July 16… Charlottesville, VA – Twisted Branch Tea Bazaar
July 17… Harrisburg, PA – Stage On Herr
August 1… Montreal, QC – Casa del Popolo
August 2… Ottawa, ON – Babylon
August 3… Meaford, ON – Electric Eclectics Fest
August 4… Cleveland, OH – Now That’s Class
August 5… Chicago, IL – The Burlington
August 6… Detroit, MI – The Lager House
August 7… Pittsburgh, PA – Garfield Artworks
August 18… Salem, Massachusetts – 1794 Meetinghouse #
% = w/ Dredd Foole, Willie Lane, Samara Lubelski / Herbcraft
# = w/ P.G. Six
^ = w/ Images
You may be familiar with Devo‘s “Uncontrollable Urge” but I can almost bet that you’ve never heard it done like this. This is Mofryky (“mo-freaky”) handling the Devo classic and it is quite good. I will say this. My favorite “Uncontrollable Urge” cover was done by The Mummies:
Mofryky’s may end up battling it.
Considering how much music he releases, the touring he does, and his efforts within the Occupy movement, it might be hard to believe that Sole is about to release his first solo album in seven years. Solo album means “solo proper”, which means a collection of music released under the name “Sole”. The album is called A Ruthless Criticism Of Everything Existing, and as he prepares to have it ready by October, the album is also part of a Kickstarter project, which you can check out by clicking here.
As always, there is a political side in his lyrics that is reflective of what he’s doing in his life, and that mixes up with the social side of things, which of course blends in with how he expresses himself in a hip-hop context. It is and can be more than hip-hop, which is perhaps what Sole has always been about throughout his life and career, but it’s a matter of truly listening and see how that reflects on your life, which of course is much more than the musical circle we sometimes get caught up in. It’s a much bigger world, and Sole is someone who isn’t afraid to cut into existing wounds in the hopes more people will be able to clean up the bacteria that should cease to exist. If he is the only one out there, that’s the reason why he’s Sole, a warrior willing to battle with action and sound.
WHY? have a new EP ready to go called Sod In The Seed (City Slang/Anticon), and you are able to take a listen to the title track with the Soundcloud player below. With new music comes a responsibility to fans, an obligation. Well, maybe not a true obligation, but they’re going on tour that will take them around town like Spongebob Squarepants from August until October. See where they’ll be:
August 24 – Columbia, MO (The Blue Note) *&
August 25 – Norman, OK (Opolis) *&
August 26 – Santa Fe, NM (SOL @ Santa Fe Brewing) *&
August 27 – Phoenix, AZ (Crescent Ballroom) *&
August 28 – Los Angeles, CA (Echoplex) *#
August 30 – San Francisco, CA (Great American Music Hall) ^*#
August 31 – Arcata, CA (Arcata Playhouse) *#
September 1 – Portland, OR (Wonder Ballroom) *#
September 2 – Seattle, WA (Bumbershoot Festival)
September 3 – Boise, ID (Reef) *%
September 4 – Salt Lake City, UT (In The Venue) *%
September 5 – Englewood, CO (The Gothic) *%
September 6 – Omaha, NE (The Waiting Room) *%
September 7 – Lawrence, KS (The Granada) *%
September 8 – Minneapolis, MN (Cedar Cultural Center) ^*%
September 9 – Chicago, IL (Lincoln Hall) ^*%
September 10 – Cleveland, OH (Beachland Ballroom) ^*%
September 11 – Ithaca, NY (The Haunt) ^*+
September 12 – Cambridge, MA (Middle East) ^*+
September 13 – Brooklyn, NY (Music Hall Of Williamsburg) ^*+
September 14 – Philadelphia, PA (Union Transfer) ^*+
September 15 – Durham, NC (Motorco Music Hall) ^*+
September 16 – Asheville, NC (Grey Eagle) ^*+
September 17 – Atlanta, GA (The Earl) ^*+
September 18 – Nashville, TN (Mercy Lounge) ^*+
October 5 – Dusseldorf, Germany (New Fall Festival)
October 6 – Evreux, France (L’abordage)
October 7 – Paris, France (Maroquinerie)
October 8 – Brighton, UK (Old Market)
October 9 – London, UK (Electric Ballroom)
October 10 – Manchester, UK (Central Methodist Church)
October 11 – Bristol, UK (Fleece)
October 12 – Glasgow, UK (SWG3)
October 13 – Oxford, UK (The Bullingdon)
October 15 – Berlin, Germany (Volksbuhne)
* = w/ Serengeti
^ = w/ Doseone
& = w/ DJ Tony Trimm
# = w/ DJ Sodapop
% = w/ Jel (DJ Set)
+ = w/ DJ Thanksgiving Brown
The new EP? Sod In The Seed will be released on August 14th, and here’s the official cover art.
The title track? Oh yeah, here it is.
Nation Ruckus will be releasing an album on September 18th called Boombox Manifesto (Big Dreamz), and this video is a bit of help to make that wait irresistible. The track is called “Against The Wall”, and with help from Sir Jay and Jonathan Emile, it’s a pure banger.
ILLUS‘ latest project is called Family First, and he does have some new projects on the way this year. For now, he has posted a new freestyle video called “Who’s ILLUS?”, where he establishes for a bit who and what he is in a short amount of time.
Is Ill Poetic trying to say he is the offspring of the man at the park selling pretzels on the Steely Dan album cover? We’re not sure, but I do know that Ill Poetic’s new song is called “Pretzel Logic” (9.69mb) so grab this musical bagel and don’t lose this number. The vocalist you hear in the song is Angelica Lee.
If you are a fan of Ill Poetic and are wondering “wait. New song? More new music?” Yes, this is a preview of a new EP called Synesthesia: The Yellow Movement.
Sene is here to test your limits, and I really think he’s also here to test his own. His music is about going beyond any level of limits, and he does this in the video made for his track “Backboards”, which features Blu.
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The video for “Footprints” is a very simple approach, but for Sene, it works quite well. Watch the video, and there are no hidden meanings: what you see is what you get. Then let the song simmer for you.
