NEWS

Lightships, the new musical outpost from Gerard Love of Teenage Fanclub, release their debut single, the beautiful "Sweetness In Her Spark" on Tuesday the 27th of March 2012.  Taken from the album Electric Cables (out on Tuesday the 3rd of April), "Sweetness In Her Spark" finds the group locking into a relaxed and breezy grove that demands the windows be flung open.  The sunny video for the track was directed by The Forest Of Black and shot in Glasgow.  Watch the video here.
 
From the outset, Gerard was clear that he wanted to establish a group name for the new record, a name that was evocative and ambiguous, that could somehow place the music within a slightly blurry and imagined context.  He didn't want to give the impression that the record was just about him.  Having settled on the name, Lightships, he sought out a cast of Glasgow-based friends to play on the record that was starting to take shape in his head; Dave McGowan (guitar, Teenage Fanclub), Brendan O'Hare (drums, from the first incarnation of Teenage Fanclub), Tom Crossley (flute, International Airport and The Pastels) and Bob Kildea (bass, Belle & Sebastian).
 
"Sweetness In Her Spark" will be available on 7" and digitally and will be backed with a brand new cover of Moondog's "Do Your Thing".  You can pre-order the single HERE and the album HERE.

As a Valentine's Day treat, Blood Orange has sent us a video for his forthcoming single, "Forget It." Filmed on VHS by Alan Del Rio Ortiz (who also directed Sutphin Boulevard), the video follows Dev Hynes from first thing in the morning till he arrives, rather late, at his girlfriend's front door. That's him dumped, I expect.

WATCH IT HERE

Blood Orange has been confirmed to play at this year's Field Day Festival in London’s Victoria Park on June 2nd and has also been invited to perform as special guest to Florence & The Machine on her upcoming US and Australian tours in April and May. US dates below:

14 APR - SANTA BARBARA SANTA BARBARA BOWL
17 APR - RENO GRAND SIERRA RESORT
18 APR - DAVIS, CA MONDAVI CENTRE
20 APR - PHOENIX, AZ COMERICA THEATRE
21 APR - LAS VEGAS, NV THE COSMOPOLITAN
27 APR - MINNEAPOLIS, MN HENNEPIN THEATHER
28 APR - MILWAULKEE, WI EAGLES BALLROOM
29 APR - ST LOUIS, MO PEABODY OPERA HOUSE
1 MAY - DALLAS, TX PALLADIUM BALLROOM
2 MAY - HOUSTON, TX VERIZON WIRELESS THEATER
8 MAY - NEW YORK, NY RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL
11 MAY - UNCASVILLE, CT MOHEGAN SUN ARENA
12 MAY - ATLANTIC CITY, NJ BORGATA EVENT CENTER

Since the June release of their acclaimed fourth album Suck It and See, Arctic Monkeys have been playing shows across the world, and are excited to announce their return to North America in 2012! The band will embark on an arena tour with the Black Keys in March, full list of dates below. Kicking things off in Cincinnati on March 2nd, Arctic Monkeys will be criss-crossing the continent, playing some of the largest venues in America including a stop at New York City’s famed Madison Square Garden.

Tickets are scheduled to go on sale on Friday, December 9^th @ 10am EST. Visit www.arcticmonkeys.com for more info.

Arctic Monkeys Tour Dates*:

3-02 Cincinnati, OH - U.S. Bank Arena
3-03 Detroit, MI - Joe Louis Arena
3-04 Columbus, OH - Jerome Schottenstein Center
3-06 Portland, ME - Cumberland Co. Civic Center
3-07 Boston, MA - TD Garden
3-09 Washington, DC - Verizon Center
3-10 Philadelphia, PA - Wells Fargo Center
3-12 New York, NY - Madison Square Garden
3-13 Montreal, Quebec - Bell Centre
3-14 Toronto, Ontario - Air Canada Centre
3-16 Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse

2011 has been an incredible year for Austra, which saw the Toronto six piece release their critically acclaimed debut album Feel It Break and tear up clubs from around the world many times over. To put an exclamation point on the year the band is giving Feel It Break the deluxe version treatment. To accompany the original danceable masterpiece is an entire disc's worth of extra material including the unreleased b-sides "Trip", "Pianix", "Believe Me" and a jaw dropping cover of the Roy Orbison classic "Crying". Stream the song here: http://soundcloud.com/dominorecordco/austra-crying/

For completists, the B-sides from previous single releases are also incorporated including live favorite "Young and Gay" and the haunting Joni Mitchel cover "Woodstock". Capping off the deluxe version is a positively sociopathic remix of album standout "Beat and the Pulse" by M. Shawn Crahan, better known as Clown from Slipknot (yes, that Slipknot). The deluxe version of Feel It Break is available TODAY digitally on Domino Records, grab it on iTunes HERE.

Austra also recently recorded an incredible live acoustic version of the b-side 'Believe Me' for their Canadian label Paper Bag, watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1aW4p9r9rc

Austra
Feel It Break (Deluxe Version)


Disc 1
1. Darken Her Horse
2. Lose It
3. The Future
4. Beat and the Pulse
5. Spellwork
6. The Choke
7. Hate Crime
8. The Villain
9. Shoot The Water
10. The Noise
11. The Beast

Disc 2
1. Identity
2. Young and Gay
3. Energy
4. Believe Me
5. Trip
6. Pianix
7. Woodstock
8. Crying
9. Beat and the Pulse (M. Shawn Crahan [Clown from Slipknot] Motion Remix)

The Kills have made a limited edition postcard flexi 7" disc for "The Last Goodbye."  Each flexi postcard will be given away for FREE on Black Friday with any purchase.  This offer is only good on November 25th, while supplies last.  Find out more information on participating locations here: http://www.recordstoreday.com/Venues

The day is finally here! Humor Risk, Cass McCombs' 2nd full-length of this year is out today.

Humor Risk was recorded in various homes and studios in California, New York, New Jersey and Chicago, and was produced by Cass McCombs and Ariel Rechtshaid, with whom he created WIT'S END, and before that, CATACOMBS.

Buy it on CD or LP at your local indie record store, Amazon.com, iTunes (Bonus Track Version) or buy it with WIT'S END at a reduced price through our very own Domino Mart.

Here's what a few people have already said about the new album:

"continuing to build a body of work that few of his generation can match" STEREOGUM

“After his tenderly downcast, early 2011 effort, Wit’s End, Cass McCombs confronts life’s miseries with a smirk and a softly rocking beat on this enjoyable sixth album. . . Suffering rarely has sounded so comforting.” SPIN

'one of America's most unique and affecting songwriters' UNCUT

'an extraordinary display of songwriting prowess... another casually monumental achievement from one of the great singer-songwriters of the day'. Q

“the opening major-key strums are warm and welcoming, immediately setting up what plays out (sonically, at least) as a long sigh of relief, a cruising acoustic motorik” PITCHFORK [Best New Track for 'The Same Thing]

Stream the album below:

View the video for 'The Same Thing' here:

Cass will be making his way up the west coast in December. Expect to see a national US tour in early 2012!

11-30 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo #
12-01 San Diego, CA - Casbah #
12-04 San Francisco, CA - Great American Music Hall #
12-06 Vancouver, BC - Electric Owl #
12-07 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern #
12-08 Portland, OR - Doug Fir #
12-09 Eugene, OR - Cozmic #

# w/ White Magic

UK duo The Kills (Jamie Hince and Alison Mosshart) will be returning to North America with dates in January and February 2012.  The tour will be making stops at Chicago's Rivera, Austin’s Stubbs, DC’s 9:30 Club and will culminate in their return to NYC’s Terminal 5 for a 10th anniversary show, which they'll celebrate with a special show for the occasion. Jeff the Brotherhood will join them on all dates.

The band is currently on tour in South America and will be touring in Europe from early November with openers Weekend, plus, at their London Brixton Academy Show, with very special guests Gang of Four. The band recently played David Lynch’s Club Silencio in Paris, performed electrifying sets at Lollapalooza and Bumbershoot and have appeared on Conan, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Last Call with Carson Daly in support of their latest offering, Blood Pressures. Ten years in, the band are at the peak of their powers, with one of the most stunning live shows of any contemporary rock band.
 
The Kills have released a new video for their track “Baby Says,” directed by Ben Crook. The video’s style is reminiscent of Almadovar meets Wong Kar Wai; a heartbreaking look at a man living in one of Barcelona’s subcultures. Watch “Baby Says” here:

 
The Kills are partnering with indie record stores for Black Friday (November 25) by offering an exclusive limited-edition postcard flexi disc single of “The Last Goodbye” with any purchase at participating stores while supplies last.
 
 
Praise for The Kills Live Shows:
 
“Singer Alison Mosshart proved yet again why she's one of rock's best frontwomen, convulsing across the stage with reckless abandon during recent tunes "Satellite" and "Future Starts Slow.” – SPIN
 
“And the duo's lusty performances eagerly play up the ambiguity of their platonic partnership. It's a quality that defines them as much as Mosshart's feverish moan, Hince's hand-slashing guitar riffs, and the synthetic beats...’” – Pitchfork
 
“Watching them lock into each other’s groove is a beautiful thing.” – KCRW
 
The Kills Winter 2012 Tour Dates:
w/ Jeff The Brotherhood
 
Jan 20   Chicago, IL @ Rivera
Jan 21   Kansas City, KS @ Midland Theatre
Jan 23  Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
Jan 24  Houston, TX @ House of Blues
Jan 25  Austin, TX @ Stubb’s Waller Creek Amphitheatre
Jan 26  New Orleans, LA @ House of Blues
Jan 28  Ft. Lauderdale, FL @ Revolution
Jan 29  Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
Jan 30  Tampa, FL @ The Ritz Theatre
Feb 1   Atlanta, GA @ The Masquerade
Feb 2   Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
Feb 3   Boston, MA @ Royale Boston
Feb 5   Montreal, QC @ L’Olympia
Feb 7   Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus
Feb 11 New York, NY @ Terminal 5
 

What could be more fun than a party thrown by Domino, Ribbon, Software, Todd P, and Stereogum?  Perhaps a party with free Tito's Vodka from 8-9pm?  Check out the full lineup for this Wednesday's CMJ extravaganza in NYC.  Hope to see you there! 

To herald the release of John Cale’s Extra Playful EP, Domino imprint Double Six are happy to share a new video for the EP track “Catastrofuk,” directed by his daughter, Eden Cale. Click here to view. In keeping with the Extra Playful spirit of the EP, the video sees him exploring outer space. The new world in which he finds himself appears inviting on the surface, but slowly, its darker elements reveal themselves and it becomes apparent that all is not quite as it seems.
 

 
The Extra Playful EP, currently available digitally and on 12”, will be issued on CD for the first time in North America as an indie retail Black Friday exclusive on November 25. The very limited Black Friday CD of Extra Playful will feature two exclusive unreleased tracks: “Bluetooth Swings” and “The Hanging,” as well as a redesigned package.
 
"Its a great pleasure to know the indie market is alive and well - still kicking sand in the face of those corporate behemoths. Without the true believers of real music - our neighborhood indie music shops - so many would have simply missed out on some of the most ground-breaking music yesterday and now. Characteristic of most indie stores is they have limited stock of their hand-picked favorites which drives the buyer to other stores that would invariably have their own focus and style - now go forth and multiply!" – John Cale
 
Listen to a preview clip of “Whaddya Mean By That” off the Extra Playful EP here.
 
Extra Playful EP - Black Friday Edition
 
1. Catastrofuk
2. Whaddya Mean By That?
3. Hey Ray
4. Pile A L'Heure
5. Perfection
6. Bluetooth Swings [Black Edition]
7. The Hanging [Black Edition]
 
Details of the forthcoming John Cale full-length album, due out in spring 2012, will be announced in the coming weeks.
 

Inhabiting their own beautifully dark, ethereal corner of the musical universe, poised somewhere at the crossroads between the nocturnal, rolling soundscapes of Angelo Badalamenti and the sublime, naive melodies of 50s pop, Trailer Trash Tracys are a deliciously unique proposition.

Recorded by the band themselves on a “solfeggio scale” – a scale to which, apparently, western guitars and pianos are not pitched to – Ester is an ambitious achievement that marries an experimental urge with a love for the standards and classics of pop eternal. 

The freeform intro “Rolling - Kiss The Universe” leads us into Trailer Trash Tracys’ own otherworldy sonic space in which their ideas play freely. Deep and hazy sonic textures drift around singer Suzanne Aztoria’s gossamer light vocals, which sound as though they were beamed from another dimension, evoking a sensual, yet unnerving tension. The album progresses to reveal ever expanding possibilities, running the gamut from the spiralling guitar shreds of “Engelhardt’s Arizona” to the gloriously seductive and brooding pop of "You Wish You Were Red”, out to the delicate, pinprick orchestrations of “Starlatine”. The smouldering slow-burn of “Turkish Heights”, meanwhile, closes the album in poignant style, romantic, dreamy and sincere, revealing a tender heart beating indelibly inside the machine.

With “Ester”, the inimitable world of Trailer Trash Tracys is brought to haunting, vivid life (in a visual sense as well, with Kurt Ralske responsible for the artwork) – a little off-kilter, a little askew, but nothing less than utterly beguiling and completely memorable. Treasure them now.

TRACKLISTING

1.     Rolling – Kiss the Universe
2.     You Wish You Were Red
3.     Dies in 55
4.     Engelhardt’s Arizona
5.     Los Angered
6.     Starlatine
7.     Candy Girl
8.     Strangling Good Guys
9.     Black Circle
10.  Turkish Heights

Pre-order the album here: http://www.dominorecordco.us/usa/albums/11-10-11/ester/

Listen to a sample of the album here:  

  Trailer Trash Tracys 'Ester' Sampler by DominoRecordCo

“A dramatic nocturnal wonderland” – Metro

“Low-lit, hot breathed noise pop that could just as easily be transported from a David Lynch soundtrack...gorgeous” – NME

“Both potent and poignant” – The Fader