Year: 2008

Despite calling Portland, Oregon home, instrumental rockers Grails have announced their first Midwest dates in a short upcoming tour. The band has traditionally only toured Europe, but in recent years has shifted its attention towards the East Coast.

Cavalcade the debut LP from Chapel Hill’s Bellafea, establish themselves as an original, peerlessly talented and inventive band. The group, is singer/guitarist Heather McEntire, bassist Eddie Sanchez, and drummer Nathan Buchanan. Sanchez and Buchanan form a tightly controlled duo, pummeling with unrestrained force. Elsewhere, they lock together as a subtle support to McEntire’s snaking guitar, itself capable of outright primal noise as well as sinister ringing.

Siblings Jason and Chad Turner are the boys behind Stepsonday. A pitch perfect alliance of pop songwriting, Stepsonday comes on like the light, breezy days of their hometown Santa Monica. Vocalist Jason and drummer Chad self recorded Little Light, their debut LP, before signing with One Eleven Records. The music is naïve and sweet, romantic and charming, while the lyrics are filled with the melancholy musings of a boy growing up in and around a world slightly grayer than himself.

When it comes to the dreamy, ambient sound of a band like The Autumns, a little bit can go a long way. So it’s probably to their credit that the band’s fourth LP release finds The Autumns expanding their range, occasionally incorporating arena-rock majesty or danceable new wave rhythm into their swirling melodies. Those meaty influences add a nice bit of weight to the music, not to mention bringing singer Matthew Kelly’s airy falsetto down to earth.

Liu Xiaodong is a 45-year-old photographer from northern China, who now lives in Beijing. This enormous book documents hundreds of his photographs. Each photo can be considered a snapshot, loose framing, with a spontaneous feel. No single photo stands out, or is titled. Instead they work together to illustrate Liu’s friends, family, immediate surroundings, and attitudes towards China as a whole.

Maybe it was the venue’s muddy acoustics, the sound gear problems that stalled the show for a couple of minutes, or perhaps it was the fact that only one-half of the act was actually present, but something was definitely off with electro-crunk outfit Yo Majesty‘s Chicago performance last Wednesday evening. The duo headlined a show with UK dance rock band Does it Offend You, Yeah? (whose set this writer missed, sadly, thanks to some transportation problems.)

No Age is the post-modern cacophony formed by guitarist Randy Randall and drummer/vocalist Dean Spunt. Former members of hardcore outfit Wives, the pair now hone their penchant for noise making into a compelling and confusing album. Nouns, the first full-length release for the duo via Sub Pop, is a scattered and often incomprehensible mess. So why does it sound so natural?

Claudio Sanchez – the primary force behind New York’s post-punk Coheed And Cambria – has recently issued Kill Audio, a new comic strip, which is available on MySpace. Kill Audio is a dark and comedic saga of a man growing irritated with his own immortality. While dealing with an array of peculiar characters and a clumsy yet unshakable villain, he embarks on a violent quest to find his own purpose in life. The first four installments of the comic will also be included this summer in Popgun – Image Comic’s collaborative graphic novel.

Following the May 6th digital release of his new single, “Teardrop,” Swedish folk-singer José González announced that he has signed on to play four major music festivals including Bonaroo and Austin City Limits.

The New Zealand post-punks Die! Die! Die! have added several new tour dates to their blistering schedule before leaving in early June for a string of European dates. The added shows (see below) will take the band up the Pacific Northwest and across the border for two Canadian dates where they will be backed by Detroit garage rockers, the Von Bondies.