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Mates of State’s Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) is now available for pre-order at matesofstate.com for a beyond reasonable $5. The self-released digital-only album will be released on June 15 and will then be available at all finer digital music retailers

“We are really proud of this record-it may be our best yet,” says Jason Hammel who is one half of Mates of State. The other half, wife Kori Gardner says, “We made it as efficiently and independently as possible, so in turn we wanted to make it as easy as possible for anyone and everyone to hear it. Selling it directly from our site for $5 seemed like a good way to do that.”

Also just unveiled at matesofstate.com is the brand new video for the band’s cover of Nick Cave’s “Love Letter.”  The literally and figuratively smoldering clip was directed by Daniel Garcia, who visually interpreted “Get Better” from Mates of State’s 2008 album Re-Arrange Us, and has directed videos for TV On The Radio, The Go! Team and J Dilla.

Crushes (The Covers Mixtape) is an album consisting of covers of songs by some of the Mates’ personal favorites by artists ranging from the above referenced Nick Cave to Death Cab For Cutie to Fleetwood Mac to Girls, whose “Laura” is now available in its Mates reinterpretation as a free download at matesofstate.com. It is the first full album recorded and produced by Mates Hammel and Gardner themselves, with a mixing assist from longtime collaborator Peter Katis (The National, Swell Season, Interpol, etc.).

Finally, Mates of State recently announced the lineup and itinerary of the Summer Crushes tour, a traveling spectacle to take place this June through July.  The Summer Crushes tour will see the band’s signature ebullient and uplifting performances supported on this one time only occasion by multimedia guests ranging from the unpretentious rock of Free Energy to the wit of comedians Todd Barry (Flight of the Conchords, Lucky Louie, Bored to Death) and Nick Thune (Comedy Central Presents, Knocked Up). The Summer Crushes tour will also see the Mates presiding over and holding together this unique roadshow, transforming familiar venues they’ve previously headlined into venues for a virtual traveling variety show featuring live magic, sword swallowers, contortionists, and more. In addition, Mates’ own Jason Hammel will serve as the tour’s resident DJ.

For further information, see the itinerary below and/or contact Amy Grote at nasty little man t 212 343 0740 e amy@nastylittleman.com

Mates of State
SUMMER CRUSHES TOUR

6/15 Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse * #
6/16 Rochester, NY @ Water Street * #
6/17 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church % #
6/18 Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small’s * #
6/19 Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop * #
6/21 Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century * #
6/22 Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall * #
6/23 Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar *
6/24 Minneapolis, MN @ 400 Bar *
6/25 Omaha, NE @ Slowdown *
6/26 Denver, CO @ Bluebird *
6/28 Salt Lake City, UT @ In the Venue *
6/30 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall * ^
7/1 San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall * ^
7/2 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo * ^
7/3 Los Angeles, CA @ The Echo * ^
7/4 Tucson, AZ @ Club Congress *
7/6 Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s *
7/7 Dallas, TX @ Granada Theatre *
7/8 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live *
7/9 Baton Rouge @ Spanish Moon *
7/10 Birmingham @ Workplay *
7/12 Athens, GA @ 40 Watt * ^
7/13 Asheville, NC @ Orange Peel * ^
7/14 Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar  * ^
7/15 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall ^
7/16 New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom ^

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Together by the The New Pornographers’s comes out today! Lucky duck you get to watch their first video from the album for their song “Your Hands (Together).” Blaine Thurier directed the video.

How excited are you? So excited you are gonna go kill a bat.

That’s right. New Mahjongg album out this summer. Catch them live and see them perform the new songs.
US Tour Dates

7/9 – Subterranean – Chicago, IL
7/10 – Bourbon Theatre – Lincoln, NE
7/11 – Hi Dive – Denver, CO
7/14 – UC Irvine (UCI Student Center) – Irvine, CA
7/15 – Casbah – San Diego, CA
7/16 – Bootleg Theatre – Los Angeles, CA
7/18 – Bottom Of The Hill – San Francisco, CA
7/21 – Backspace – Portland, OR
7/22 – Media Club – Vancouver, BC
7/24 – Northern – Olympia, WA
7/27 – The Aquarium – Fargo, ND
7/28 – Triple Rock Social Club – Madison, WI
7/29 – University Of Wisconsin (Memorial Union) – Madison, WI

www.myspace.com/machinegong

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The U.K.’s Tunng always seems to be in a constant state of transition, being a band that believes in musical experimentation with a lineup that’s done a bit of changing over the years. In fact, the band’s fourth full-length, …And Then We Saw Land (which came out this month on Thrill Jockey), was made with a new lyricist, lead vocalist and sounds not heard on previous albums. It’s just another chapter in the ever-changing world of Tunng. The band will be hitting the European festival circuit this summer while it promotes the new release on tour. Check out this mix tape that multi-instrumentalist Phil Winter made for MAGNET.

Click here to see the full article: http://www.magnetmagazine.com/2010/04/22/tunng-makes-magnet-a-mix-tape/

Tunng’s new album …And Then We Saw Land is out now on Thrill Jockey Records!

Check out their website: http://www.myspace.com/thisistunng

BLK JKS at Secretly Canadian

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Fountains of Wayne guitarist Jody Porter releases solo debut Close To The Sun via Engine Room Recordings on May 11, 2010.

Download “Aurora”

Slow Club announce a giveaway of their Lets Fall Back In Love EP, available for download at www.slowclub-yeahso.com

1. “Lets Fall Back In Love”
2. “Come On Youth”
3. “Dance To The Morning Light”
4. “Summer Shakedown”
5. “Trick Question”

Spread The News!

If you’ve yet to see it, be sure to watch their video (LINK) for the single “Giving Up On Love” starring Mackenzie Crook (Gareth Keenan of “The Office” UK and Pirates of The Caribbean). “Giving Up On Love” is off their critically acclaimed debut album Yeah, So. Out now on Moshi Moshi Records in North America packaged with a limited edition bonus disk with B-Sides and Live Recordings.

Over the past month they also completed a number of guerilla style video recordings while on tour. Their version of “Willow Tree” has them walking through a carnival in London, while “Wild Blue Milk” captures the duo on a sand dune outside a gas station In the California desert as 4 wheel ATVs motor around them.

Deep Elm Records offers New 18 Track Sampler for FREE Download

Fiercely independent Deep Elm Records has unleashed Sampler No. 9 “We Dream Alone” and for a Limited Time is allowing Free Downloads of all 18 tracks including embedded lyrics for your iPhone, iPod, iPad so you can sing along.  ”We Dream Alone” includes songs from new releases by She Bears, This Drama, The Lions Rampant, Moonlit Sailor, Public Radio, Papermoons, Cari Clara, Goonies Never Say Die, Nathan Xander, Late Night Condition, Down To Earth and Track A Tiger.  Also included are two unreleased tracks from Les Sages (from their forthcoming album “Share This”) and Ride Your Bike  (from their forthcoming ep “The Connection”), plus three classics from critically-acclaimed albums by Moving Mountains, Desoto Jones and 500 Miles To Memphis. Deep Elm’s current roster spans the globe and includes bands not only from the States, but also Spain, England, Sweden, Argentina and France.

Fans can download the new sampler here: http://www.deepelm.com/samplers/

Deep Elm sees its label being about people coming together, meeting, singing and sharing that experience with each other…those are the times that we remember forever. It’s about the power of music and the bands that create it. Founded on respect for music and the creative process, a goal of discovering and developing new artists and undying integrity in everything we do, Deep Elm strives to further its reputation as one of the world’s most consistent and reliable sources of quality independent recordings.

Download. Discover. Defend Deep Elm.

“A super-hip independent label.” – Punk Planet
“The world’s most reputable indie rock label.” – Chord
“An untarnishable reputation for delivering legions of great music.” – Go211

Deep Elm Records
www.deepelm.com
www.twitter.com/deepelm

Picture Atlantic

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With first week album sales totaling 22,689, Sharon Jones and The Dap Kings’ debut at #15 on The Billboard Top 200 marks the group’s highest chart position to date. Daptone Records, who released Jones’ I Learned The Hard Way last week, is the only independent label in the top 20 this week. I Learned The Hard Way also notched the #10 position on the digital charts and ranked #6 on the R&B chart.

Cinematic in scope, beautifully shot, and dramatic to its core, the video for lead single “I Learned the Hard Way” directed by Philip Di Fiore, perfectly captures the power inherent in this hard-hitting title track.

Stream: I Learned the Hard Way at SharonJonesandtheDapKings.com

Order: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ I Learned The Hard Way [Daptone Records]:

iTunes, Amazon Daptone Records

Watch: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings’ “I’ll Still Be True” live at The Mohawk Patio in Austin, TX (SXSW) Filmed by Yours Truly: http://bit.ly/trulyjones

I Learned The Hard Way was produced by Bosco Mann and recorded on an Ampex eight-track tape machine by Gabriel Roth in Daptone Records’ House of Soul studios. This record drips with a warmth and spontaneity rarely found since the golden days of Muscle Shoals and Stax. Sharon’s raw power, rhythmic swagger, moaning soulfulness, and melodic command set her firmly alongside Tina Turner, James Brown, Mavis Staples, and Aretha as a fixture in the canon of soul music. From the lush Philly-Soul fanfare that ushers in “The Game Gets Old” at the top of the record, to the stripped down Sam Cooke-style “Mama Don’t Like My Man” at the tail, the Dap-Kings dance seamlessly through both the most crafted and simple arrangements with subtlety and discipline. I Learned The Hard Way is the “Daptone Sound” at its finest.

Promos and album downloads available now, please reply with all requests.

I Learned The Hard Way Track List:

01 The Game Gets Old

02 I Learned The Hard Way

03 Better Things

04 Give It Back

05 Money

06 The Reason

07 Window Shopping

08 She Ain’t A Child No More

09 I’ll Still Be True

10 Without a Heart

11 If You Call

12 Mama Don’t Like My Man

East Coast TV Schedule:

Late Show w/ David Letterman: April 23

The Colbert Report: April 26

Late Night w/ Jimmy Fallon: April 28

Mo’Nique: Air date in April pending

CBS News: Air date in April pending

Full Tour Dates:

4/14 – London, UK – Koko’s

4/15 – Amsterdam, NL – Paradiso

4/17 – Live Oak, FL – Wanee Music Festival

4/22 – Lafayette, LA – Festival International de Louisiane

4/23 – New Orleans, LA – The Howlin’ Wolf

4/24 – Oxford, MS – Double Decker Festival

4/30 – NYC RELEASE PARTY @ The Apollo Theater – SOLD OUT

5/1 – New York, NY – The Apollo Theatre

5/6 – Richmond, VA – Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden

5/7 – Annapolis, MD – Ram’s Head Onstage

5/8 – Charlottesville, VA – Jefferson Theater

5/9 – Norfolk, VA – The NorVa

5/11 – Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle

5/12 – Asheville, NC – Orange Peel

5/13 – Atlanta, GA – Center Stage Atlanta

5/14 – Nashville, TN – Cannery Ballroom

5/15 – Nelsonville, OH – Nelsonville Music Festival

5/17 – Newport, KY – The Southgate House

5/18 – Detroit, MI – Majestic Theatre

5/21 – Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre

5/22 – Milwaukee, WI – Pabst Theater

5/23 – Indianapolis, IN – The Vogue

5/25 – Toronto, ON – The Sound Academy

5/26 – Montreal, QC – Le National

5/27 – Boston, MA – House of Blues

5/28 – Hartford, CT – New England Dodge Music Center

5/29 – Hartford, CT – New England Dodge Music Center

6/20 – Vancouver, BC – The Commodore Ballroom

6/21 – Seattle, WA – Showbox Sodo

6/22 – Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom

6/25 – San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theatre

6/26 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern

6/27 – Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern

PRESS QUOTES

Entertainment Weekly: “This isn’t just old-school; it is school.”

O Magazine “…time-travels back to the heyday of classic ‘60s soul.”

Rolling Stone “Call the Dap-Kings a band if you want – they’re really connoisseurs.”

USA Today “…the Dap Kings show soul music didn’t die in the ‘60s.”

TIME “…right between Gladys Knight and Mavis Staples on the soul hit parade.”

New York Times: “…the music gives off a musk of enlightened toil.”

New York Magazine: “…a painstaking homage to the chitlin-circuit soul of the sixties and seventies.”

BUST “…incredible interpreters of that signature ‘60s sound.”

“…I Learned The Hard Way hits all the right notes.”

AM New York “…another slab of hip, warm soul, funk and gospel…”

Nylon “… a whooping, booty-shaking force of nature.”

Chicago Tribune “…speaks to the moment and yet holds timeless appeal.”

Sister2Sister Magazine “…you might think you dusted off one of your mama’s old 45s by mistake.”

For More Information:

http://www.sharonjonesandthedapkings.com

http://www.daptonerecords.com/

http://twitter.com/DaptoneRecords

http://www.facebook.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings