World's Fair

 
Apollo Sunshine is getting ready for the digital/vinyl release of their new album, Shall Noise Upon, next week. After this Saturday’s Boston show (”666″ was also just chosen as the Boston Phoenix’s “MP3 of the Week”), they’re coming to New York for a couple of days. Monday, August 4 they’ll be at Union Pool and Tuesday, August 5 aboard the Jewel (along with Drug Rug and Sam Champion) as part of the Rocks Off Concert Cruise.

To celebrate summer and their release, the band is giving away a pair of tickets to the cruise, a customizable guitar by Built By Wendy, and a handful of Apollo Sunshine guitar picks to one lucky person. Enter to win here.

Shall Noise Upon is also available for pre-sale.

The Village Voice recently wrote up the event. Here’s what they say:

Whether wailing bucolic or apocalyptic, instrument-swapping power trio Apollo Sunshine’s new Shall Noise Upon aims to be an old-fashioned psychedelic masterpiece and—is the record over? I forget—may well have succeeded. Local pop-rock weatherpersons Sam Champion and Cambridge psych-folk-rockers Drug Rug will supply bonus motion sickness on this dependably rambunctious booze cruise.

Aug 02 Boston, MA @ Bank of America Pavilion w/ State Radio
Aug 04 Brooklyn, NY @ Union Pool
Aug 05 New York, NY @ Rocks Off Concert Cruise (aboard the Jewel!)
Aug 08-09 Wellfleet, MA @ The Wellfleet Beachcomber

Artist: Apollo Sunshine
Album: Shall Noise Upon
Label: Headless Heroes
Street Date: September 2, 2008 - CD; August 5, 2008 - Digital/ Vinyl

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The Upsidedown have already managed to amass quite a reputation in their native Portland, thanks much in part to their dynamic live show, which takes full advantage of their six-person strong line-up. It’s engaging and thick with layers of instrumentation, and now, with the help of The Dandy Warhols and their newly-minted Beat The World Records, the band is taking its appeal to the rest of the country.

Acting as support for The Dandys throughout their entire upcoming fall North American tour, The Upsidedown have found the perfect platform on which to display their new record, Human Destination, out digitally-only on August 12 (eMusic subscribers will be able to download it August 5). The album captures the group’s live energy without sacrificing any of the subtleties developed in the studio, and songs like the West Coast-country tinged “Umbrella,” which contrasts bassist Tristan T-bird Evans’s breathy harmonies with frontman (and former member of The Bella Low) Jsun Atoms’s deep, near-growling vocals. “Ernestine” finds guitarist/accordionist Matt Moore singing in his higher range over minor picked guitar chords, but both the title track and “Silver Wind” are catchy and upbeat, driven by hooks and handclaps and alternating vocals.

The Upsidedown’s “Silver Wind” DOWNLOAD

Beginning in Minneapolis on September 9 and ending October 5 in Portland, both bands (with added help from Darker My Love, and one-off appearances from A Place To Bury Strangers, The Charlatans, and fellow Beat-The-Worlders Monstrous) will bring their shows to their American and Canadian audiences, supporting their new albums. Now fully independent, The Dandy Warhols release their sixth full-length, …Earth To The Dandy Warhols…, on August 19.

The Dandy Warhols’ “The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty” DOWNLOAD

The Dandy Warhols/The Upsidedown Fall tour dates after the jump
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Everyone’s favorite all-white-wearing-Oklahoman-band Colourmusic is pleased to present the next of many videos from their upcoming album, f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13, which comes out September 9th.

The fist-pumping “Yes!” has already been circulating ’round the Interwebs, causing people worldwide to wonder, “who are these men, and what are their names?!” Always one step ahead, Colourmusic has taken strides to answer this question in the form of their video “You Can Call Me By My Name.”

 
But Colourmusic’s not the only band with a new video. Mr. Peter von Poehl’s “Scorpion Grass” is also out. This one utilizes Lian Hong’s stop-motion animation talents, and does a pretty good job of capturing Peter’s visage.

Artist: Colourmusic
Album: f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13
Label: Great Society
Street Date: September 9, 2008 - CD; August 19, 2008 - Digital/ Vinyl

CONNECT: World’s Fair | MySpace | Website

Artist: Peter Von Poehl
Album: Going To Where The Tea Trees Are
Label: Bella Union
Street Date: 6/10
Format: CD, mp3

CONNECT: Bella Union | Website | Myspace

Famed house DJ Mark Farina will be making a special signing/performing appearance at San Francisco’s Virgin Megastore to promote his new Fabric Mix, Fabric 40, which hit shelves June 10.

Mark recently finished up a short US stint around release date, but it you weren’t able to catch him then, and live in the Bay Area, get yourself over to the corner of Stockton and Market tomorrow evening!

Wednesday, July 30
Virgin Megastore
2 Stockton Street
San Francisco, CA 94108
6pm

Artist: Mark Farina
Album: Fabric 40
Label: Fabric
Street Date: June 10, 2008

CONNECT: World’s Fair | MySpace | Website

It’s getting close to release date of COMO NOW (August 19…), which means the good folks at Daptone have finished unveiling the 9 chapters that make up their COMO NOW Documentary.

Last week saw the release of the final chapter, aptly titled “Conclusion,” which makes a fitting end to the piece.

Earlier segments include Irene Stevenson (Chapter VII) and a moving performance by The Jones Sisters (Chapter VIII), the youngest group to perform on the album.

And if you think Daptone’s commitment to roots music ends there, well…it doesn’t. Also on the label, and a part of the official Revue as part of Central Park’s SummerStage series (August 17), is gospel-singer extraordinaire Naomi Shelton, who has a weekly Friday-night set at the West Village’s Fat Cat. To say the very least, it is worth checking out.

Naomi (with the surname Davis) has already lent her voice to soul and funk records cratediggers should be familiar with (”Forty First Street Breakdown,” the rare “Wind Your Clock” 10-inch), but it is with gospel that she’s truly in her element. With a tight-as-hell band and back-up vocals from the Gospel Queens, Naomi truly puts on a show that demands attention. Besides her remarkable voice, she’ll grab your hand, kiss your cheek, wish you happy birthday, and make you sing along; in short, it’s probably the perfect way to start any weekend, and if you’re anywhere near Manhattan and care anything about music, we here at World’s Fair implore you to check her out for yourself.

See you there!

Everyone knows music consumption has changed. Advances in technology and listening habits demand that artists approach how their music gets to their audiences differently. Amazon understands this. The Dandy Warhols understand this. Partnering together, the band is offering fans a new way to buy their new album, …Earth To The Dandy Warhols…, out August 19, using a service through Amazon called TextBuyIt. As the name suggests, registered customers can receive release information and even have the ability to purchase specific albums through texting.

For the Dandys, requests can be sent to 262966 (or AMAZON) with the message earth2dandys. More information can be found here.

Amazon.com has already established itself as a new kind of digital record store, complete with similar artists and personalized and user recommendations, and the week of August 19, the band will be offering an exclusive cover of Bob Dylan’s “Lay Lady Lay,” available for download on the site with a purchase of the album.

“The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers aka The Ballad of Sheriff Shorty” [DOWNLOAD]

The band is currently finishing up a run of dates in Europe, but will back in North America for a full fall tour, starting September 9 in Minneapolis.

TOUR DATES
Sep 09 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
Sep 10 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore*
Sep 12 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater*
Sep 13 - Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus*
Sep 14 - Montreal, QC @ Club Soda*
Sep 16 - Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre*
Sep 17 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5*
Sep 20 - Philadelphia, PA @ TLA*
Sep 22 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club*
Sep 23 - Atlanta, GA @ The Center Stage Theater*
Sep 26 - Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall*
Sep 27 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theater*
Sep 28 - Aspen, CO @ Belly Up*
Oct 01 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up*
Oct 03 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern #
Oct 04 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield
Oct 05 - Portland, OR @ The Roseland Theater (No Pre-Sale)^

More dates TBA

All shows with the Upsidedown
*With Darker My Love
# With A Place to Bury Strangers
^With Monstrous

Artist: The Dandy Warhols
Album: Earth To The Dandy Warhols
Label: Beat The World Records
Street Date: August 19, 2008

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São Paulo, Brazil’s bright-eyed musical prodigy Curumin (KOO-roo-mean) is set to release JapanPopShow on Quannum Projects on October 7, 2008. The album, which had originally been scheduled to come out five months earlier, follows up Curumin’s debut, Achados e Perdidos. The 13 tracks combine dense instrumentation with a modern beat-conducting approach, topped off with Curumin’s (aka Luciano Nakata Albuquerque’s) distinct Portuguese croon.

JapanPopShow opens with the title track, which takes its name from an early-80s Brazilian variety program in the vein of The Ed Sullivan Show. This is dance music, from start to finish, and further carves out his inimitable style of samba soul, now sprinkled with more afro-beat, dub and experimental funk. The tropicalia flair of “Esperança” evokes the breezy Brazilian pace, “Sambito”’s beat-driven energy is helped by Tommy Guerrero’s electric guitar, and the legendary vocalist Marku Ribas appears on “Dançando No Escura.” But it’s also affectionately personal: on the Os-Mutantes-meets-Manu-Chao “Magrela Fever” he sings about the joys of riding a bike, while the infectious “Compacto” is about his love of 45s.

Download “Compacto”

The album was executively produced by Curumin, Gustavo Lenza & Lucas Martins, but Curumin himself handles most of the instrumentation, including drums, cavaquinho and vintage synths. He also gets help from some of his labelmates, including Honeycut’s Hervé Salters, Gift of Gab, Lateef, and Chief Xcel, the last three who lend their talents on “Kyoto,” a song that follows in the tradition of Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, political and smart but still amazingly catchy, amazingly tuneful.

For Curumin’s showcases in New York and SXSW in March 2008, he traveled with two musicians, and each took the stage equipped with an MPC, combining live instrumentation with beat manipulation for a truly captivating dynamic. Curumin also switches between the drums and cavaquinho, all the while mesmerizing his audiences worldwide with his soulful voice and warm spirit. He will return to the States on December 4 and 5, 2008 as part of Red Hot + Rio 2 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, celebrating the next generation of innovative Brazilian musicians. Additional US tour dates are also planned for November.

“The woozy, reggaefied title track has the brain-melting charm of a pot-addled jam. Elsewhere, dense funk collides happily with old-fashioned samba and bossa nova; “Kyoto” suggests Caetano Veloso fronting Funkadelic. If “Fumanchu,” a throwaway based on a simple electric piano riff, can provide such immense pleasure, there’s some sneaky magic in effect.” — SPIN **** (June 2008)

“Brazilian musician Curumin’s second album is hard to classify, but in the best way: funk, psychedelic rock, hip-hop, reggae, dub, and more all co-exist on this album, sometimes even within the same track. The mix is a smart one, and it makes sense, considering Brazil’s history as a melting-pot nation. There’s enough influence from Brazil’s musical past to keep traditionalists listening, but enough forward thinking to take the album into new territory. Hard to pigeonhole, but easy to enjoy.” — XLR8R 8/10 (May 2008)

“JapanPopShow affirms with authority the potential the artist has already demonstrated in his live performances. A great album from beginning to end.” — Rolling Stone Brasil (May 2008)

“JapanPopShow is possibly the easiest way to tap in to Brazilian culture without actually going there. It’s what we imagine a São Paulo beach party sounds like; funky drum circles, romantic Portuguese dialect and the intermittent smoke before bodyboarding pristine waves. With elements of dub, Afro funk, samba soul and hip-hop setting the mood, Curumin sounds like a Brazilian version of Jack Johnson on a mild Bonde Do Role kick (”Compacto”). Add to that some bossa nova guitar reminiscent of João Gilberto on “Esperança,” and you’ve got music that speaks to the soul.” - REMIX Magazine (May 2008)

“This São Paulo singer and multi-instrumentalist combines traditional Brazilian music with modern electronic flourishes to create a sound that simultaneously digs into the past and looks to the future.” - PLAYBOY 10 To Watch in 2008 (March 2008)

Check Out “Compacto” Here!

Artist: Curumin
Album: JapanPopShow
Label: Quannum Projects
Street Date: October 7, 2008

CONNECT: World’s Fair | MySpace | Youtube

British Sea Power, who’ve blown away fans across the world with their third full-length, Do You Like Rock Music, are now being duly recognized by their native England with a nomination for the Nationwide Mercury Prize, which celebrates the top 12 albums released by UK or Irish artists.

The winner will be announced the night of the award show, September 9, 2008, but until then, BSP can continue to bask in the glory of being part of the elite dozen, alongside Adele, Radiohead, Estelle, and Robert Plant.

See the full list here.

Artist: British Sea Power
Album: Do You Like Rock Music?
Label: Rough Trade / World’s Fair
Street Date: Feb. 12th, 2008
CD: Amazon | Newbury Comics | Insound
MP3: iTunes | eMusic | Amazon
2xLP: Insound

CONNECT: Website | World’s Fair | Myspace

After a string of European dates, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are back in the States, finishing up their summer with some more appearances at festivals (Lollapalooza, V Fest, Outside Lands, Red Rocks, ACL), zoos (Portland, Seattle) and of course, the Daptone Revue on August 17, which closes out the Central Park SummerStage 2008 season (Menahan Street Band and Naomi Shelton will also be there). Talk about a homecoming.

She played in LA last night with Feist as part of the KCRW World Festival, a show that LAist certainly seemed excited about.

SHARON JONES & THE DAP-KINGS TOUR DATES
Jul 25 - Portland, OR @ The Portland Zoo
Jul 27 - Seattle, WA @ The Seattle Zoo
Aug 2 - Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
Aug 3 - Montreal, QUE @ Oshega Music and Arts Festival
Aug 9 - Baltimore, MD @ V Festival
Aug 16 - Westhampton, NY @ Westhampton Performing Arts Center
Aug 17 - New York, NY@ Central Park SummerStage (Daptone Revue)
Aug 21-22 - St Paul, MN @ Minnesota State Fair
Aug 24 - San Francisco, CA @ Golden Gate State Park (Outside Lands Music and Arts Fest)
Sep 5-7 - Berkeley, CA @ The Greek Theatre (opening for DMB)
Sep 14 - Denver, CO @ Monolith Festival at Red Rocks
Sep 27 - Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits
Oct 26 - New Orleans, LA @ Voodoo Fest
Nov 01 - Ithaca, NY @ The State Theatre of Ithaca

Artist: Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings
Album: 100 Days, 100 Nights
Label: Daptone Records
Street Date: October 2nd, 2007
Formats: CD, vinyl, mp3

CONNECT: Website | World’s Fair | Myspace | iMeem | YouTube

In conjunction with Music Monitor Network, the Alliance of Independent Music Stores, and the Coalition of Independent Music stores, World’s Fair Label Group, on behalf of the Dandy Warhols, will be giving away an exclusive EP, Earth to the Remix EP Vol. 1. With remixes by each of the Dandy Warhols themselves, the EP not only introduces material from the their upcoming album, …Earth To The Dandy Warhols… (out August 19th on the band’s very own Beat The World Records), it also shows off their musical versatility. The remixes move from spacey dub to edgy electronica but are never forced or insincere: the spirit and energy of the original song is always maintained, it’s only the immediate presentation that’s changed.

Starting on July 19th and running through street date, fans can go to one of 400 stores nationwide — including Amoeba, Virgin Megastore and Newbury Comics –and pick up the EP themselves at absolutely no cost. For a complete list of participating stores, please go to recordstoreday.com.

Earth to the Remix EP Vol. 1 Track Listing:
1. Come the Fuck On — A Peter Holmstrom/ Jeremy Sherrer Remix
2. THE MONSTER MISH — A Taylor-Taylor / Jacob Portrait Remix
3. Welcome to the Skin-up Remix — Fathead / Jeremy Sherrer
4. Dub In The Lotus — A Zia McCabe / Jeremy Sherrer Remix Paul Brainard — Pedal Steel

“The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers aka The Ballad of Sheriff Shorty” [DOWNLOAD]

Read Courtney’s interview with Sentimentalist

TOUR DATES
Sep 09 - Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue*
Sep 10 - Madison, WI @ Barrymore*
Sep 12 - Chicago, IL @ Vic Theater*
Sep 13 - Toronto, ON @ Kool Haus*
Sep 14 - Montreal, QC @ Club Soda*
Sep 16 - Boston, MA @ Wilbur Theatre*
Sep 17 - New York, NY @ Terminal 5*
Sep 20 - Philadelphia, PA @ TLA*
Sep 22 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club*
Sep 23 - Atlanta, GA @ The Center Stage Theater*
Sep 26 - Lawrence, KS @ Liberty Hall*
Sep 27 - Denver, CO @ Gothic Theater*
Sep 28 - Aspen, CO @ Belly Up*
Oct 01 - San Diego, CA @ Belly Up*
Oct 03 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Wiltern #
Oct 04 - San Francisco, CA @ Warfield %
Oct 05 - Portland, OR @ The Roseland Theater (No Pre-Sale) ^

More dates TBA

All shows with the Upsidedown
*With Darker My Love
# With A Place to Bury Strangers
% With the Charlatans
^With Monstrous

Artist: The Dandy Warhols
Album: Earth To The Dandy Warhols
Label: Beat The World Records
Street Date: August 19, 2008

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