Year: 2008

Well, summer is almost over, and while that means shorter days, longer nights, and cooler temperatures, there is still one last hurrah before the last glow of summer officially fades. We’re talking, of course, about Bumbershoot, Seattle’s music and arts festival.

Mavis Staples, an icon of resistance and former lead singer of the Staples Sisters, performed a moving concert on June 23rd in Chicago that has since been recorded and is set for release on November 4th, aka Election Day. Entitled Mavis Staples Live: Hope at the Hideout (Anti-), the chosen release date is not a mere coincidence. Staples has ties to the upcoming election, having attended the same Chicago church as Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama, who Staples has described as, “in a way, so much like Dr. King.” Also, Obama’s message of “change” and “hope” are standards in Staples’ music. The live album showcases Staples’ live rendition of the protest classic “We Shall Not Be Moved,” a song often sung during sit-ins at restaurants in the South in the 1960s.

The ’59 Sound (Sideonedummy), the latest album by The Gaslight Anthem debuted at #70 on the Billboard Hot 200 Charts. After a whirlwind of publicity including being featured on the cover of Kerrang! magazine, the band’s strong debut is no surprise. Currently on tour throughout the UK, the band is scheduled to perform throughout the United States this fall with such acts as Rise Against, Alkaline Trio and Thrice.

On the heels of their recent stint this summer during the Vans Warped Tour, Hollywood by way of Denmark rockabilly punks Horrorpops have announced a new fall tour entitled “All Hallows Eve Tour 2008.” The tour is in support of their third release, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, an album based around a film noir throwback. Fans should look forward to an atypical concert experience, as frontwoman Patricia Day along with Kim Nekroman on guitar and Henrik Niedermeier on drums ensure the “All Hallows Eve Tour 2008” is a must-see event.

By the time San Francisco-by-way-of-Florida metal duo Black Cobra took to the stage late Thursday night, roughly a dozen air drummers and air guitarists clamored for space in the front two rows where on cue, they unselfconsciously began to play along with the band with the fervor as appropriate for a tent revival as a rock’n’roll show. While I couldn’t bring myself to share in the miming, I could appreciate the sentiment. Live, drummer Rafael Martinez (who also plays bass guitar for Acid King) guitarist Jason Landrian’s expertly played mixture of doom and punk comes to life, a different beast than the muddier version that rears its head on the group’s recordings such as Feather and Stone (At A Loss).

17-piece Athens, GA based rock ‘n’ roll collective, Dark Meat have just announced a 21-date US tour. Setting off aboard their 1972 GMC coach bus, the band will cumulate their tour on October 31, bringing their psychedelic, southern-styled rock to   New Orleans for a special Halloween appearance.

After the successful release of their debut album, Saturnalia, veteran rockers Greg Dulli and Mark Lanegan (Afghan Whigs and Screaming Trees) of The Gutter Twins are set to release a brand new EP entitled Adorata and featuring reinterpretations of songs by the likes of Vetiver, Jose Gonzales, and Primal Scream. The eight-song EP will include The Gutter Twins‘ take on songs such as “Belle” by Vetiver, “Flow Like a River” by Eleven, and “Down the Line” by Jose Gonzales.

Ra Ra Riot have come a long way in just two years. After making a name for themselves as one of the most energetic live bands in Syracuse, New York, releasing a self-titled EP, and raising some eyebrows at CMJ festival, the quintet seemed destined for stardom. Sadly, though, along the way, they lost drummer, co-songwriter, co-vocalist and founder John Ryan Pike when he tragically drowned in 2007. But where many bands might folded under the new-found malaise, Ra Ra Riot instead persevered, making do with what they had, and created The Rhumb Line (Barsuk) one of this year’s best indie-pop debut albums.

Singer/songwriter Jolie Holland has just announced an upcoming North American tour. Starting in California and ending in New York, Holland will be on the road from mid-October to mid-November, playing a thorough set of shows in the US and Canada. Supporting her on the tour will be the French troubadour duo Herman Dune. The tour is in support of Holland‘s latest effort The Living And The Dead.

Chicago-based Pelican have been very busy. First and foremost, the hard rock outfit announced they will be issuing a limited edition 10″ split with peers These Arms Are Snakes, who they had previously collaborated with on last year’s Pink Mammoth. These Arms Are Snakes have rerecorded their song “Diggers Of Ditches” with Pelican providing their own musical input to the track as well. Hydra Head will be issuing only 3000 of the records, as well as an even rarer CD version.

Seattle rock band These Arms Are Snakes have leaked a new song from their stellar upcoming album Tail, Swallower & Dove (Suicide Squeeze). The song, entitled “Red Line Season,” is the first taste off of the band’s debut full-length, which is due out October 7th.