Minami Furukawa

Sharon Van Etten on tour with Marissa Nadler and Junip

Having recently performed at the Pitchfork Music Festival in June, ambient folk crooner Sharon Van Etten continues her tour of the US in anticipation of her new album, Epic, out October 5 on Ba Da Bing Records.

Van Etten will play select shows in the Southeast with sophisticated dream-folk artist Marissa Nadler in September, followed by her first nationwide tour in November with indie-folk singer José Gonzalez’s new band, Junip.

Prepare for these upcoming dates by checking out her video for “Take Away Show #109” here.

Sharon Van Etten: “Love More”
LoveMore

Pyramids’ R. Loren heads new drone project with incredible cast

You never thought it could happen in your wildest drone-metal dreams, but it has: noise honchos Ted Parsons (Swans, Jesu, Godflesh), Aiden Baker (Nadja), and Colin Marston (Krallice) have joined James Blackshaw (Current 93), Marissa Nadler, Vern Rumsey (Unwound), and many others to work with R. Loren of Pyramids in his collaborative project titled Sailors with Wax Wings.

The debut self-titled album is due for release on September 28, via Angel Oven Records, and the project has premiered the song “And Clash and Clash of Hoof and Heel”with accompanying video.

Southern’s Latitudes Series releases Gang Gang Dance and Nadja recordings

Southern Records’ Latitudes series continues with session recordings by Gang Gang Dance and Nadja, following a murderer’s row of releases by William Elliott Whitmore, Grails, Sir Richard Bishop, Bohren Und Der Club of Gore, Miasma and the Carousel of Headless Horses, White Magic, Mount Eerie, and others.

Recorded at Southern Studios, the Latitudes series reaffirms the bond between studio, label, and individual artists with the opportunity to record spontaneous, collaborative, or experimental work in the studio in a one-day session.  The result is truly unique, offering a more personal and relaxed experience from bands to their fans.

Animal Collective’s Avey Tare to release first official solo record

Following individual collaborations and solo efforts by other bandmates, Animal Collective’s Avey Tare is releasing his first solo full-length, scheduled for release on October 26.  Down There (Paw Tracks), consisting of nine new songs, drifts away from the upbeat melodies of Animal Collective, illustrating a haunting atmosphere with murky sounds.  A crystalline pop buzz contrasts sloshy rhythms and drippy bass notes, reflective of the crocodile, one of Tare’s favorite animals.

Nails joins Southern Lord Records

Freshly signed to a new label, Nails joins the likes of Sunn O))), Pelican, and Goatsnake under heavy metal giant Southern Lord Records with the re-release of their album, Unsilent Death. Comparable to a cross between Amrep bands of the nineties and Cro-Mags Age of Quarrel riffage, Nails’ severe sound is brutal, vicious, and raw, hurtling at hypersonic speeds.

A new release is in the works under the new label for early 2011, but in the meantime Nails is taking to the road with fellow label-mates in the Southern Lord-sponsored The Power of the Riff Festival in LA on August 8. A cross-country tour is also scheduled for early September.

J.Tillman on tour with Phosphorescent

The tour between Seattle folk artist J. Tillman — a recent-ish addition to Fleet Foxes — and alt-country/folk group Phosphorescent started earlier this week, with their first stop in LA on Tuesday.

Tillman’s 7th full-length record, Singing Ax, was recorded in three days in February of this year. On the album, simplistic and contemplative, third-person narratives float over acoustic guitar mainly without accompaniment, with the exception of a few tracks including mellotron and drum machine.

J.Tillman: “Three Sisters”

J. Tillman: \”Three Sisters\”

Divinity announces tour schedule and new album, The Singularity

Canadian metal group Divinity has confirmed its first live-performance dates promoting its new album, The Singularity, through parts of Canada, but it looks like fans in the States will have to wait a little longer.

Divinity succeeds its 2008 album, Allegory (Nuclear Blast), with a continuation of its melodic death/thrash metal, calling upon a bit of Meshuggah with dueling, rapid-fire guitar exchanges. High-pitched screams and forceful growls are paired with surprisingly tight and melodically comprehensive vocals amid unpredictable rhythms with shifting time signatures.

Air announces US live date

After the sold-out tour last March that brought Air back to North America after more than three years, the French electronic-pop duo returns with an exclusive live date in the States this October. Scheduled for October 23 at LA’s Shrine Auditorium, the show will consist of opening acts by Quadron and Juliette Commagere.

With albums such as Moon Safari and the latest, Love 2, Air holds 5.5 million worldwide record sales to date. Its app for iPhone, titled “Love by Air” (developed with London-based music tech company RjDj), spent several weeks in the iTunes Top 20 Music Apps chart.

The application allows users to mix their own versions of the band’s music by choosing from five different “soundscapes,” then transforming them by sampling and processing ambient sounds, their own voice, and more into Air’s hits. Also available through the app are personal message and performance recordings to make sharing of these creations possible.

Jónsi tours, offers chance to win artwork

You know Jón þór Birgisson, or Jónsi, as the guitarist and vocalist for Icelandic post-rock band Sigur Rós, with trademarks such as his falsetto voice and use of cello bow on guitar, but the artist has set out on his own with debut album Go. The album, featuring nine songs drawn from material crafted during his time with Sigur Rós, is arranged in collaboration with classical composer Nico Muhly and exhibits album artwork by his sisters Inga and Lilja.