Neon Musical Insight

Prince Rama — the latest inclusion apart of the Animal Collective label Paw Tracks — has a new album entitled Shadow Temple set to drop on September 14. To celebrate it’s release, Rama will take to the road with Animal Collective’s fourth, and sometimes present, member Deakin making some guest appearances, along with Nite Jewel Psychic Ills and others, throughout August and September. Check out the dates below.

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Clearly, news of the day. Last month, veteran indie-rockers Guided By Voices announced that they’d be performing in the form of their classic line-up for Matador’s 21st anniversary in Las Vegas. Today, most likely due to the overwhelmed response from fans and supporters, frontman Robert Pollard took to his website to announce a full-scale, nationwide tour with Blitzen Trapper and Times New Viking in the opening slot. Their Vegas gig is slated for October 3, but their first actual reunion show will take place a few days before on September 30 in Austin, Texas.

Check below for dates and try not to shit yourself. Wouldn’t wanna be responsible for that.

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DOWNLOAD MP3: Lower Dens – “Tea Lights”

From the sound of things, for their second proper release Twin-Hand Movement, the Baltimore four-piece Lower Dens have got their shit together. Dropping next week — July 20 via Gnomonsong — their mysteriously hypnotizing and abrasive sound has never sounded more complete than it does on this fresh track “Tea Lights”. The bass groove/guitar interplay is potently effective, while Jana Hunter’s smoothly deep vocal delivery poses well with backup vocals that can easily call into comparisons of earlier inspirations such as the Pixies.

Stream/Download above.

Lower Dens also have a hell of a tour planned for the rest of the year. Check below to see when and where to catch them.

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Grinderman, the newest outfit for Nick Cave along with Warren Ellis, Martyn Casey and Jim Sclavunos, revealed a few goodies today in promotion of their forthcoming second LP Grinderman 2, which is due out on September 13 in Europe and on the following day in the U.S. via Mute/Anti-. That image that you see above is the official artwork for the album. In addition, the tracklist, some European tour dates and even an animated teaser video of the band with some new music playing in the background made itself present on the bands website earlier this morning.

You can find the tracklist, tour dates and the zany animated clip all below.

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Two years ago, the L.A. experimental punk band No Age dropped a pretty heavy bomb on the indie world with their first proper studio release Nouns, an album that mixed melody with brash, sharp instrumentation. Today, the duo announced their new LP Everything in Between. Dropping on September 28 via Sub Pop, Everything in Between will consist of 13 tracks, all with cleverly dreadful titles.

Below, you can find the tracklist to their new album along with some tentative tour dates.

Everything in Between:
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The Scottish vet rockers Teenage Fanclub recently released their stellar  album Shadows — their first in five years — at the end of last month. In support, the lads will head to the States at the end of September for some gigs. The tour will also feature such impressive supporting acts as Superchunk and fellow Scottsmen Belle & Sebastian — B&S will join for their New York show at the Williamsburg Waterfront, obviously making it an OMFG show. All dates can be found below.

Teenage Fanclub Tour Dates:

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DOWNLOAD MP3: Ariel Pink with Added Pizzazz – “In the Heat of the Night”

Ariel Pink already released a banger for the summer along with his Haunted Graffiti with the full-length Before Today – an album that we also can’t get enough of — but obviously, that’s not enough for the weirdo/slacker/entertainer. This new one, a fresh track, features the assistance of Added Pizzazz, who were also featured on the opening cut “Hot Body Rub” off Pink’s latest LP.

“In the Heat of the Night” may be the most perfect summer song thus yet, with it’s swooshes of waves and bubbly atmosphere. It’s free jazz on shrooms. Above is the artwork for this soon-to-be EP release — due out on July 9 via FDAFITS — and will also be available on the Haunted Graffiti tour, GvsB points out. Grab it above and check the remaining summer tour dates/tracklist below:

Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Tour Dates:

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It’s been a while since the Buzzcocks released their first two albums Another Music in a Different Kitchen & Love Bites back in ‘78. Hell, I wasn’t even a thought in my parents mind at this time. Yet the magnitude and influence that these two albums would go on to have all the way into today is absolutely undeniable. “Orgasm Addict,” “Whatever Happend to…,” “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t've)”; these are all songs that made their first appearances on these two records.

That’s why it comes as a great surprise that the band has booked a 22-date North American tour where they will play both albums in their entirety each night with a promised selection of “other hits,” reports Slicing Up Eyeballs.

Kicking off on May 11 in Washington D.C. at the Black Cat and concluding on June 7 at the House of Blues in San Diego, CA, the Buzzcocks will be comprised of original members Pete Shelley and Steve Diggle along with recent additions Danny Farrant and Chris Remington. More shows are expected to be announced at a later date as well.

Check out the fully dates below.

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With their fifth LP Together on it’s way for a May 4 release via Matador, the Canadian supergroup New Pornographers have provided the first taste of the album for those who are hungry to hear it. “The Crash Years” — the second song on Together — isn’t being offered for free download, but can be purchased for a reasonable $0.99 at Itunes right now.

In addition, if you choose to pre-order Together from the Matador store, you will also receive a free 7″ consisting of three cover songs from the New Porno’s of Detroit’s Outrageous Cherry.

Lastly, with a new album generally comes a much needed tour, and the New Porno’s definitely have that one covered. With a massive North American tour set to kick off on June 11 in Minneapolis, MN the tour will run all the way until August and will have such openers as Mountain Goats, the Dodos, Here We Go Magic and others to help pack quite the punch. All the North American dates can be found below.

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Some may remember the Church for their spellbinding songwriting and musical craftsmanship that helped develop their name alongside Echo and the Bunnymen and others of the early 80’s post-punk/new wave scene. Some may only know the Church for their Donnie Darko featured “Under the Milky Way”. And some may not know them at all. Either way, that’s fine. But when news is dropped about the band planning to perform a 30th Anniversary, acoustic-only tour, then now becomes the most opportune time to jump on board.

After being together for three decades, The Church will be returning to North America to perform in venues that are best described as being an “intimate space” by the band.

Taking the concept of performing an individual album at each gig and running with it, the Church plan to do something a bit different. At each show, the band will play a random song that ranges all the way from their debut Of Skins and Heart to their most recent 2009 release Untitled #23 and perform in reverse chronological order from that song on. A little confusing, and a bit of a strange move to do when tracklisting is designed for a reason, but an interesting take none-the-less.

The dates can be found below, and will span the entire month of April. Be sure to check them out in a city near you.

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