First artist in Weathervane Music's new "Shaking Through" series.

By Fred Mills

So if you're reading this you've probably read our exclusive interview with Sharon van Etten that we posted to the site this morning, right? If not, go here - BLURT contributor Jennifer Kelly talked at length with the songwriter and also attended her recent concert in Cambridge where she opened a very special show for Damon & Naomi (not so coincidentally, big fans of van Etten; the photo, above, was taken at the concert).

So anyway, over at Weathervane Music, a non-profit organization dedicated to working with deserving independent artists and help push their careers forward (artists like van Etten, in fact), they've just posted a free van Etten MP3 at their site titled "Love More". The new recording is part of Weathervane's newly-christened "Shaking Through" series.

As Weathervane director Brian McTear (a Philadelphia producer and musician of no small acclaim) puts it at their site, "Listening to ‘Love More', watching the videos... there's soooo many people to thank. Their names are in the credits below the videos, and among the many sponsors that hooked this all up! Remember that Weathervane Music is a non-profit organization that does ALL of this to simply support and advance the work of great independent artists (9 more artists to come in 2010!). We ask that you share the news of this beautiful new piece of music."

Consider it shared, Brian.

Go here to access the van Etten MP3.

[Photo Credit: Katii Durrell; view more of her images at her Flickr page or contact her via email at katii.durrell@gmail.com]

New album NonStopErotik due March 30 on Cooking Vinyl. Recorded in Los Angeles, London and Brooklyn, it was produced by Eric Drew Feldman and Black Francis, and features 10 original songs plus a cover of the Flying Burrito Brothers track "Wheels".

By Blurt Staff

This just in from Black Francis, aka Frank Black, aka "that dude from the Pixies":

***

I finally came into possession of an old guitar someone had given me at a nightclub in San Francisco awhile back; Eric Drew Feldman had been holding it for me there on Haight Street.  He convinced me that it looked cool (it was black) and had been given in the spirit of benevolence.  Every time I picked it up a nice chord came out and so I lovingly cleaned it with red wine in the dressing room the following night and began to write.  I told the tour manager that we would drive in my Cadillac directly to a recording studio in Los Angeles (and could he book one, oh, and a rhythm section, too?) from the gig in San Luis Obispo which would put us at the studio at about 4am.  It all happened according to plan and we cut the initial tracks there in the wee hours over a few days, and then moved on to an equally haunted studio in London and Eric Drew Feldman joined us there and we finished the record in St. John's Wood.  Like I said the studio was haunted and I wrote many a couplet by candlelight in the studio accommodation, slept very little, and only felt the need to get the fuck out of there fast on the last night.  The spirits had not ever bothered me, other than low drama moral support, but I was informed that they had heard enough and it was time to move on; plus I had a gig in Ireland.

When I was a boy the plant we boys called a fern was code for vagina, and to this day I love fern plants.  In my heart the vagina is almost everything, and almost everything else could be summed up in what cock and seed have to offer; and everything else?  The love of the father, dead or alive, the pain of too much pleasure, till death do us part, the voice of another song man from the other side, with or without God, Teri and the Possibilities, where ever you may be, the smell of sex in the air, seduced, slain, on my knees in prayer, sucking at the only thing that matters, my own personal Meret Oppenheim, I am Man Ray and I want you and to be all the way inside you, the cameras whirring as we put some elbow grease into the scene, the audience watching us in the dark.


Black Francis
January 2010, Central Oregon

Thom Yorke, Devendra Banhart, Alan Vega, Tunde Adebimpe, Atlas Sound and others... what's not to like?

By Blurt Staff

We told you the other day about the new Liars album, Sisterworld, out March 9^th.  Now comes word about the deluxe two-disc version. It comes with "very special packaging," we are told

The second disc of the 2CD release sees each track on Sisterworld reinterpreted by a host of artists including Thom Yorke, Devendra Banhart and Alan Vega (full tracklisting below) while the unique packaging allows a surreal glimpse into the Sisterworld concertina (visit http://thesisterworld.com/visualaid.html for a Sisterworld packaging visual aid).

Scissor - By Pink Dollaz, Lance Whitaker & Transformation Surprise 

No Barrier Fun - By Duetonal (Alan Vega / Suicide)

Here Comes All The People - By Atlas Sound (Bradford Cox)

Drip - By Kazu Makino (Blonde Redhead)

Scarecrows On A Killer Slant - By Tunde Adebimpe (TV On The Radio)

I Still Can See An Outside World - By Boyd Rice (NON)

Proud Evolution - Thom Yorke 500qd Remix 

Drop Dead - By Fol Chen

The Overachievers - By Devendra Banhart & The Grogs 

Goodnight Everything - By Melvins

Too Much, Too Much - By Carter Tutti (Throbbing Gristle)

Liars will tour North America in support of Sisterworld this coming Spring. The tour sees fellow LA band Fol Chen supporting Liars on all dates.

LIARS TOUR DATES:

4/10/10 - El Rey Theatre - Los Angele

4/14/10 - Rock & Roll Hotel - Washington, DC

4/15/10 - Bowery Ballroom - NYC

4/16/10 - First Unitarian Church - Philadelphia

4/17/10 - Paradise - Boston

4/18/10 - Music Hall of Williamsburg - Brooklyn

4/27/10 - Slim's - San Francisco

4/29/10 - Hawthorne Theatre - Portland, OR

4/30/10 - Venue - Vancouver, BC

5/1/10 - Neumos - Seattle

Revisit your video memories, below, all you hoofers.

By Blurt Staff

Some news just MUST be shared with the world: Just certified this week by Guinness World Records, the largest "YMCA" dance ever.

Whew.  We feel strangely... aroused, writing that last line.

But yeah: The Village People sang and 40,148 adoring fans in the stadium danced their way into a world record on December 31, 2008, and Guinness has giving them the certification. The largest "YMCA" dance ever was scored during the halftime show at the Brut Sun Bowl, in El Paso, Texas, presented by Helen of Troy, on that date.

Danny Girton, Jr., Guinness World Records Adjudication Manager, announced today, "On behalf of Guinness World Records, we are delighted to certify such a visual, fun and monumental record achievement. A very worthy effort by all 40,148 participants and we welcome them to the Guinness World Records family!"

As Andy Partridge might put it, let's briefly summarize what we've learned now, shall we?

The shape-shifting indie rockers, led by flamboyant frontman Kevin Barnes, blow things up real good at the 9:30 Club on January 28.

By Matt Siblo / Photos By Kyle Gustafson

One band's ostentatious is another's austerity. Such was the case with Of Montreal's performance at the 9:30 club Thursday night, just a little over a year since its last stop at the venue. As the band's popularity has grown, its outlandishly surreal stage show has mirrored lead singer Kevin Barnes' loopy psychedelic narratives. While promoting 2008's Skeletal Lamping, band members were tiered on a cluttered stage amidst elaborate conceptual set pieces and hyperactive interpretative dancers. Though tonight's nearly 20-song set wasn't exactly lacking for spectacle- what with the molesting bishops and mock-crucifixion- it didn't feel quite as overstuffed. This is a recession, after all.

Barnes' metamorphosis resulting from the harrowing events leading up to 2007's Hissing Fauna... is now old news, but his brash hyper-sexualized stage persona remains electrifying to watch.  Slinking around the stage dressed like a matador transvestite, his complete absence of super-ego is both fetching and bizarre. On stage, Barnes transforms into Georgie Fruit, a 40-year-old African-American funk singer who has had numerous sex changes. To see him, it comes dangerously close to making sense.  As the rest of the band, accompanied by costumed ghouls and animals, paraded around the stage like extras from H.R. Puffinstuf, its deliriousness turned infectious and the largely underage crowd lapped up every outlandish diversion.

But even as Of Montreal's set was swifter than its previous jaunt-it's hard to maintain a sugar rush for 2 full hours- it occasionally turned listless. Barnes announced that the band would be releasing a new album in September, but it previewed only one new song, the mid-tempo "Metal finds Troll," hardly resembling the new Parliament-inspired direction Barnes has been feeding the press.  On songs like "A Sentence of Sorts in Kongsvinger" and a ferocious rendition of "She's a Rejecter," the band reasserted itself, proving that underneath the pomp and confetti, its melodies are just as engrossing as its gimmicks.    

For its encore, Of Montreal regrouped for a well-intentioned if not quite successful cover of The Jackson Five's "I Want You Back."  Even Barnes, the mercurial interloper that he is, couldn't strike a post-modern pose recreating the magic of its source material. 

[Photos credit: Kyle Gustafson:  http://photokyle.com/photoblog/]

Casa Gogol Celebrates The Spring Release of Transcontinental Hustle, The New Gogol Bordello Studio Album Produced by Rick Rubin

By Blurt Staff

The gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, whose live shows have Entertainment Weekly dubbing them "the world's most perfect festival band," will headline an international mini-festival of their own, the Casa Gogol Tour, an evening's worth of insurgence from the multi kulti revolution, launching April 18 in Montreal. Tour dates are below.

The North American leg of the Casa Gogol Tour follows Gogol Bordello's appearance at the 2010 Tibet House Benefit Concert in New York and the band's major tour of Australia in late March and April.

All dates on the Casa Gogol Tour will feature a full-on Gogol Bordello headline concert as well as sets by bands and DJs in simpatico with the GB mission.  North American dates on the Casa Gogol Tour run from April 18 through May 1 and will include sets by Slavic-punk-band DeVotchKa, East Village punk troubadour Jesse Malin and St. Mark's Social, electro-anarchists Tres Leches Afterparty Sound Crew and special surprise guest appearances.

Select dates on the European leg of the Casa Gogol Tour will include sets by the VMA-winning Brooklyn punk-dance duo Matt & Kim, Mariachi El Bronx (the musical alter-ego of the hardcore punk band The Bronx) and Tres Leches Afterparty Sound Crew.

Casa Gogol is crossing America, and then the Atlantic, to celebrate the upcoming release of Transcontinental Hustle, the fifth studio album from Gogol Bordello.   Produced by Rick Rubin, Transcontinental Hustle is the first Gogol Bordello studio album since 2007's SUPER TARANTA!

We are advised by the band: "Gogol Bordello's radical invocations of positive primal energy and planetary consciousness combine with a music infused with ska, metal, punk, rap, dub and, more recently, intimations of indigenous Brazilian sounds to produce a party maelstrom of electrifying proportions. Led by revolutionary change agent and provocateur Eugene Hutz, Gogol Bordello, a nine-piece juggernaut of gypsy rebel soul, has become an international force to be reckoned with."

Well, all right then!

Tour Dates:

Fri       Feb, 26           New York, NY                       Carnegie Hall (Tibet House benefit)

Sun      Mar, 28           Fremantle, AUS                     West Roots Blues

Tue      Mar, 30           Melbourne, AUS                   Billboard

Wed    Mar, 31           Sydney, AUS                          The Metro

Fri       Apr, 2              Brisbane, AUS                       The HiFi

Sun      Apr, 4              Byron Bay, AUS                    Byron Bay Blues Fest

Mon    Apr, 5              Byron Bay, AUS                    Byron Bay Blues Fest

All Casa Gogol North America dates below will include performance by DeVotchKa, Jesse Malin and  St. Mark's Social, and Tres Leches Afterparty Sound Crew as support.

Sun      Apr, 18           Montreal, QC                         Metropolis

Tue      Apr, 20           Toronto, ON                         Sound Academy

Wed    Apr, 21           Detroit, MI                            Royal Oak

Fri       Apr, 23           Chicago, IL                           Congress

Sat       Apr, 24           Minneapolis, MN                  First Ave

Sun      Apr, 25           Minneapolis, MN                  First Ave

Wed    Apr, 28           Boston, MA                           House of Blues

Thu      Apr, 29           Baltimore, MD                      Rams Head Live

Fri       Apr, 30           Baltimore, MD                      Rams Head Live

Sat       May, 1            Philadelphia, PA                    Electric Factory

All Casa Gogol European dates below, except festivals in bold, include performances by Matt and Kim, Mariachi El Bronx, and Tres Leches Afterparty Sound Crew as support.

** Matt and Kim NOT performing at these shows

#  Announced as The Bronx (not Mariachi El Bronx)

Date                            City                                        Venue                                   

Fri       May, 7            London, UK                           Hammersmith Apolo #

Sat       May, 8            Manchester, UK                    Academy

Sun      May, 9            Glasgow, UK                         Academy

Mon    May, 10          Norwich, UK                         UEA

Tue      May, 11          Birmingham, UK                   Academy

Fri      May, 14          Bulligny/Nancy, FR            JDM Fest

Sat      May, 15          Longirod, CH                      Longirock

Sun      May, 16          Karlsruhe, GER                     Tollhaus

Tue      May, 18          Paris, FR                                Elysee Montmartre

Wed    May, 19          Toulouse, FR                         Le Bikini

Fri       May, 21          Madrid, SP                             La Riviera**

Sat       May, 22          Barcelona, SP                        Razzmatazz**

Mon    May, 24          Bologna, IT                            Estragoon

Tue      May, 25          Milan, IT                                 Alcatraz

Wed    May, 26          Zurich, CH                             Xtra

Thu      May, 27          Wien, AT                                Gasometer **

Tue      Jun, 1              Amsterdam, NL                     Paradiso **

Wed    Jun, 2              Hamburg, GER                      Docks **

Thu      Jun, 3              Berlin, GER                           Astra/Columbia Halle **

Fri      Jun, 4             Nuremburg, GER               Rock im Park

Sun     Jun, 6             Nurburgring, GER             Rock am Ring

Hairy palmed fanboys across the nation go "sigh....."

By Fred Mills

We already told you about Sweet Apple - the indie rock supergroup formed by Dinosaur Jr's J. Mascis and Cobra Verde/Death of Samantha frontman John Petkovic, plus Cobra Verde's Tim Parnin and Mascis' bass-playing partner in Witch, Dave Sweetapple. Their Love and Desperation album hits stores April 20 on Tee Pee, and they'll be touring, too, including the Tee Pee showcase at SXSW in Austin.

Today they unveiled the cover art to the LP, and as one picture (above) is worth a thousand strokes, er, words, we decided that a second picture (below) is worth just about a zillion. Something tells us that Petkovic, a notoriously knowledgeable rock-archive type dude, had a hand in his band's album art, which was done by Seldon Hunt (Isis, Sun O))), & Pelican). Enjoy!

Will the real Neon Angel please stand up and be counted. Where's Neil Shusterman, by the way?

By Fred Mills

With all the hype surrounding The Runaways film happening right now - those of you whose bullshit meters flicker into the red whenever Hollywood gets involved with a rock ‘n' roll story, maybe check out this trailer and commentary - it was inevitable that various folks associated with the movie would drum up some side business.

Indeed, erstwhile frontwoman Cherie Currie has just announced the impending publication of Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway, due March 16 (same week as the movie hits theaters) from It Books/Harper Collins. I'll go the extra mile and post the entire press release about the book below.

What's interesting is that the publisher states that the movie was based on the book, yet no mention is made of the fact that way back in 1989 Currie published a memoir bearing the remarkably similar title Neon Angel: The Cherie Currie Story. For this new book the press release indicates it took Currie "more than three decades" to write, but if you figure she originally quit the Runaways in the late '70, a book published in '89 took considerably less than 30+ years to complete.

Here's the editorial description from 1989 as detailed at Amazon.com from Publishers Weekly:

Currie powerfully recounts her teenage years in this candid autobiography, chronicling the experiences that destroyed her self-confidence and led her to drug and alcohol abuse. At 15 she became the lead singer for the Runaways, a female rock group. The Runaways soared rapidly to success, but Currie was overwhelmed by the pace and constant travel. As the pressure increased, Currie went from marijuana to Quaaludes; amid family conflicts and quarrels with the Runaways, she eventually became a cocaine addict. At age 17 she left the group to produce a solo album; her drug use continued to escalate, moreso when she learned that her father was dying of alcoholism, and her mother, of cancer. Currie lets readers know that drug abuse destroyed her family, her career and almost her life; she hit rock bottom before realizing that if she didn't get help she would die. This turbulent, frightening story sends mature readers a potent warning against drugs. Ages 12-up.

Wow. Turbulent. Frightening, even.

So is this NEW Neon Angel a totally NEW memoir? The 1989 edition lists a co-author named Neil Shusterman, while the 2010 book credits the book to Currie and Tony O'Neil. What the hell happened to Neil Shusterman? (Maybe he got carved up by a chainsaw - see below.) Of course, the 1989 edition totally blew chunks  - I've had it for years, and as a collector of music books I feel confident in saying that it is, er, a "lesser work" in the pantheon of rock bios and memoirs. The fact that Amazon.com is also listing it for sale among its used book vendors for $75 and up is cause for great mirth, too; caveat emptor.

Come to think of it, maybe that last term applies here too....

***

Official Press Release:

LOS ANGELES, February 2, 2010: When Cherie Currie, the lead singer of 1970s teenage girl group The Runaways, sat down to write her personal memoir, NEON ANGEL: A Memoir of a Runaway (It Books/An Imprint of HarperCollins; On sale: March 16, 2010; $24.99; Hardcover) she never imagined the book would be made into a highly anticipated movie, starring some of Hollywood's hottest actors.

Cherri Currie is the original lead singer of ‘70s teenage, all-girl rock band The Runaways. At the tender age of 15, she joined the group, a talented group of girls who could play rock like no other female group before them. On the face of it, Currie's is a cool story of girl empowerment and fame. But the truth is darker, as Currie and her band mates dealt with predatory men who were not necessarily looking out for their best interests. On the road, unsupervised for months at a time, she had to grow up fast and experience things that no teenaged girl should.

Cherie's amazing resilience is inspiring.  As band mate Joan Jett says in the book's foreword:  "Neon Angel is a chronicle of a remarkable journey - the story of a remarkable woman, who has an uncanny knack of reinventing herself - from singer, to actor, to drug counselor, to physical trainer, to mom, to author, to painter, to chain saw carver...While excelling at every turn, Cherie has also exhibited an ironic flair for finding herself in dramatic situations." 

Writing NEON ANGEL itself, was a journey for Currie, and it took more than three decades before it was finally completed. Her story exposes the side of the music industry that fans never get to see. Chronicling the group's rise to fame, the book recounts their ultimate demise, and Currie's struggles with drugs, rape, violence and, ultimately, her fight to reclaim her life.  

The girls, Currie with Joan Jett, and Lita Ford on guitar and Sandy West on drums, arrived on the Los Angeles music scene in 1975, belting out provocative teen rebellion songs such as "Cherry Bomb." They  quickly catapulted from playing small LA clubs to selling out major stadiums. With her signature Bowie-hair cut and fishnet stockings, Cherie lit up the stage, singing hits such as "Cherry Bomb," "Queens of Noise," and "Born to Be Bad." Playing on Cherie's name, Joan Jett and Kim Fowley wrote the worldwide hit "Cherry Bomb" on the spot, for Cherie to audition for the band, one of the many compelling stories Currie tells in NEON ANGEL.

The Runaways were the first all-girl rock band to have hit songs, record platinum albums (at least 1,000,000 units sold), and tour internationally. But behind the scenes, NEON ANGEL is a story of five teen girls, runaways, thrown into a decadent, high-pressure world. As Cherie chronicles the band's rise from LA clubs to selling out their first US tour, she also weaves in a portrait of an amazing time in punk rock. The Runaways headlined shows with opening acts such as the Ramones, Van Halen, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Cheap Trick, and Blondie. They played at CBGBs, and got into the London punk scene and hung out with The Sex Pistols.

Cherie's unique stage persona and fashion style has influenced many of the artists who came after, and that influence can be clearly seen in such very successful performers as Madonna and Lady Gaga.

With the help of multi-platinum hit songwriter and producer Kenny Laguna, Currie was able to have her book made into the feature film,  The Runaways --starring Dakota Fanning (War of the Worlds, New Moon, The Secret Lives of Bees) as Currie, and Kristen Stewart (Twilight, New Moon, Into The Wild, Panic Room) playing Joan Jett.  The Runaways also stars Oscar nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road) as manager Kim Fowley, and Oscar winner Tatum O'Neal as Cherie's mother. 

The Runaways movie is schedule hits theaters nationwide March 19, 2010.

About the author:

Cherie Currie rocketed to rock and roll stardom when she joined the Runaways at the young age of 15. She's been described as "the lost daughter of Iggy Pop and Brigitte Bardot."   Shortly after the band's demise, the rock star landed a coveted role in the Jodi Foster movie, Foxes, and later went on to appear in the films Wavelength with Robert Carradine, Parasite with Demi Moore, and Twilight Zone: The Movie, with Dan Aykroyd.

Currie is still performing, writing, and acting, and she continues to take on unorthodox endeavors.  One of the most prominent chainsaw carvers in the world, she was rated No. 7 in the world for chainsaw competition in 2008.

#          #          #

NEON ANGEL: A Memoir of a Runaway

By Cherie Currie with Tony O'Neill

It Books/An Imprint of HarperCollins

Hardcover; On sale: March 16, 2010

Price: $24.99; Pages: 398

ISBN: 9780061961359

Autopsy results released this morning.

By Fred Mills

Breaking news from Memphis daily The Commercial Appeal is saying that the results from Jay Reatard's autopsy are in. Reatard, 29, was found dead in his Memphis home on Jan. 13.

According to Shelby County Medical Examiner Dr. Karen E. Chancellor, the cause of death was "cocaine toxicity, and that alcohol was a contributing factor in his death."

Read more about Reatard at BLURT:

Jay Reatard R.I.P. 1980-2010

Beck, Others Pay Tribute to Jay Reatard

FAREWELL An Interview with Jay Reatard

No title yet for John McEntire-produced platter; tour dates set for May w/presale starting today.

By Blurt Staff

Broken Social Scene will be releasing their new, as-yet-untitled album on May 4^th on Arts & Crafts.  Co-produced by the band and Tortoise's John McEntire at Soma Studios in Chicago, with additional recording at Giant Studio and The Schvitz Studio in Toronto, the new album is the follow up to their acclaimed self-titled record, released in 2005.  

There are a lot of cooks in the kitchen for this one, because in addition to the current lineup of Kevin Drew, Brendan Canning, Justin Peroff, Charles Spearin, Andrew Whiteman, Sam Goldberg  and Lisa Lobsinger, there's a virtual clusterfuck of guest appearances.

Among  them are BSS alumni Leslie Feist, Amy Millan and Evan Cranley of Stars, Emily Haines and Jimmy Shaw of Metric, Jason Collett, Ohad Benchetrit of Do Make Say Think and Years, John Crossingham, Marty Kinack, Leon Kingstone and Julie Penner.

But wait, there's more! Also guesting is a who's-who of indie rock icons: John McEntire, The Sea and Cake's Sam Prekop, Tortoise's Doug McCombs, Pavement's Spiral Stairs, Sebastian Grainger, Poi Dog Pondering's Susan Bells, Helen Money's Alison Chesley and The Weakerthans' Jason Tait.

The details:

Founded ten years ago by Kevin Drew and Brendan Canning, Broken Social Scene very quickly established themselves as one of the most vital voices in independent music.  Assembled by Drew, and made up of an assortment of musical friends, lovers, and strangers, the band emerged fully-formed from their hometown of Toronto in 2002.  They were an instantly engaging energetic entity:  a tightly-knit community bursting at the seams with talent, personalities, songs and many, many guitars.  Their albums - which were recently regaled on many "Best of the Decade" lists for the 00's - were cinematic, critically-acclaimed splashes of concept and melody, marrying a dizzying onslaught of sounds with finely-crafted choruses.  The band's ability to weave a plethora of voices, specific genre elements, and varied instrumentation into a postmodern aural pastiche launched them instantly onto the international stage.  Between 2002 and 2009, Broken Social Scene was seemingly everywhere, touring from Mexico City to Moscow, winning Juno Awards, scoring acclaimed films like Half Nelson, making multiple appearances on late-night television shows, and more.  Live, their shows were notoriously epic, cathartic affairs, sometimes lasting over three hours - the result of just wanting to keep playing.  They made their own videos, created their own art work, and simply looked like they were probably having more fun together than any other band out there.  As a group, or on their own, Broken Social Scene's members released some of the 00's most notable independent albums, predominantly from under the umbrella of their own label, Arts & Crafts, cementing their status as one of Canada's most important musical exports.

With their new album, the first Broken Social Scene record following the acclaimed Broken Social Scene Presents... series, Broken Social Scene decided it was time to try something new.  As a core six-piece who had spent most of 2007 and 2008 on the road, Drew, Canning, Spearin, Whiteman, Goldberg and Peroff spent early 2009 working on new material in Toronto.  The pairing down of the band's massive personnel list for the first time proved extremely fruitful; they created spacious songs written as a band by a band, resulting in more cohesive, melody-driven compositions than previous BSS output.  They then decamped to Chicago, recording outside of Toronto for the first time, which allowed them to fully immerse themselves in the recording process.  In producer John McEntire - a musical hero for many of the band's members - they found a fresh perspective on their own sound; this continued to fuel the creative process, resulting in nearly 40 songs written in and out of the studio, a number of which were put together as the first new Broken Social Scene record in five years.  

*** 

Broken Social Scene will also be playing select dates around their new album's release.  A pre-sale for tickets to shows in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York starts today via GalleryAC.com.  The dates: 

5/1/10             San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore

5/3/10             Los Angeles, CA @ Henry Fonda Theatre

5/7/10             New York, NY @ Webster Hall

5/13/10           London, UK @ Brixton Academy (w/ Pavement)

5/14/10           Minehead, UK @ All Tomorrow's Parties

5/17/10           London, UK @ Heaven

5/18/10           Amsterdam, NE @ Melkweg

5/19/10           Cologne, GR @ Burgerhaus Stollwerck

5/21/10           Paris, FR @ La Maroquinerie

6/19/10           Toronto, ON @ Toronto Island (w/ Pavement, Band of Horses)

[Photo Credit: Norman Wong]