World's Fair

So at this point in time Daptone Records has pretty well established itself as the go-to place for funk and soul in the 21st century. Sharon Jones is practically a household name, and acts like the Budos Band and the Sugarman 3 are getting more and more exposure daily. Being the kind of label they are, though, and not content to rest on their laurels, Daptone is releasing an a cappella gospel album on August 19, called COMO NOW. It was recorded live in a church in Como, Mississippi on July 22, 2006, and it’s as soulful and rootsy and real as any Dap-Kings hook or Sharon Jones chorus.

In order to celebrate, the label is releasing one chapter of their COMO NOW Documentary a week, each featuring a Como artist. They’re on “Chapter II - Como Mamas,” right now, and this Thursday “Chapter III - Mary Moore” will roll out. There are nine in all, so stay tuned for the rest to come.

In other Daptone news, Sugarman 3 are playing tomorrow, Wednesday, June 18 alongside than Rich Medina as part of Stuyvesant Town’s Music on the Oval series (show starts at 6pm).

Album: COMO NOW
Label: Daptone Records
Street Date: August 19, 2008

There are bands that sound good on stage, and there are bands that sound good on record, and then there are the fortunate ones that sound good on both. With the full-length debut f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13, out September 9 (August 19 for vinyl and digital) on Great Society, the Oklahoma-based Colourmusic convincingly declare themselves to be a band of both persuasions, already having proven themselves as an imposing live force, most recently as support for British Sea Power on their Spring 2008 US tour.

Check out the song “Put In A Little Gas” here [DOWNLOAD]

With f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13, Colourmusic establish themselves as a group whose playfulness is matched only by their clear understanding of what makes a good song, a satisfying combination of originality, group harmonies, skilled composing, and a refreshingly good-natured outlook on life.

There’s “Yes!,” of course, a track that has been featured on KCRW and has already won over many a fan with its rollicking chorus, a wild repetition that borders on recklessness and yet stays firmly grounded in indie-rock melody, but there’s also the quirky heartland rock of “The Gospel Song” and the crunchy driving bass of “Put In a Little Gas.” “You Can Call Me By My Name” toys somewhere between shoegaze and garage rock and “Spring Song” is nicely inspired by British folk, each song comfortably its own while still tying in to the greater whole.

There’s a concept behind the album — the relationships between colour and notes and emotion, a modern take on Newton’s Colour Theory — but this is not a concept album. Instead, f, monday, orange, february, venus, lunatic, 1 or 13 is spawned from a collaboration of good friends, strong hooks, and organically layered arrangements, an album that’s both practiced and spontaneous, an album that captures both the unadulterated passion found in Colourmusic’s incendiary live show and their consummate musicianship. It’s a complete work, one that truly shows off their unbridled energy and unbounded creativity, a fully-realized portrait of what the band really is, which, when it’s all said and done, ends up being much more than enough.

Check out the song “Put In A Little Gas” here [DOWNLOAD]

Even better, Midwesterners can see the band live and in action early this summer:

June 26 - Columbia, MO @ Mojo’s
June 27 - Chicago, IL @ The Hideout
June 28 - Milwaukee, WI @ Summerfest
June 29 - Madison, WI @ High Noon Saloon
June 30 - St Paul, MN @ Turf Club
July 02 - Fargo, ND @ Aquarium
July 03 - Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
July 04 - Des Moines, IA @ 80/35 Festival
July 05 - St. Louis, MO @ The Bluebird
July 06 - Lawrence, KS @ Replay Lounge

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

Listen to the brand-new track, “666: The Coming Of The New World Government,” here. [DOWNLOAD]

Shall Noise Upon, set for release on September 2nd, 2008 on the Headless Heroes label, is the third full-length album from Apollo Sunshine. Recorded during the summer of 2007 in the Catskill Mountains, in a house inhabited by spirits (and next door to the home of the original Uncle Sam), the album sees multi-instrumentalists Jesse Gallagher, Sam Cohen, and Jeremy Black weaving through a multitude of styles (psych-pop, groove-funk, cowboy songs, samba/tropicalia) with assured fluidity and inspiration. This is not a band searching for their sound; they have crafted an awesome mix of original material that celebrates the journey through darkness and light.

Surrendering themselves to the collective head-space and transformative alchemy of Apollo Sunshine and with help from their friend and co-producer, Quentin Stoltzfus (Mazarin), Shall Noise Upon is an illumination of love in a world of “dangers”- real and false. The CinemaScopic arrangements on the album couldn’t have been realized without recruiting a parade of musical friends including: Drug Rug, Edan, Tulsa, Viva Viva, and White Flight. The result is a timely collage of lush instrumentation: drawn from home-made samples and field-recordings to singing bowls and jaw harp. The sounds on Shall Noise Upon come together in an impressionist tour of electrified music.

Album-openers “Breeze” and “Singing To The Earth (To Thank Her For You)” are love-poems to nature and longing, weaving the emotional connection to the world and to each other as one magnetic force, while building and bursting to the sound of cascading autoharp and drippy pedal-steel. “666: The Coming Of The New World Government” likens America today to the fall of Rome around anthemic psych guitar scrawl, propellant percussion, and winding vocal harmonies. “Brotherhood Of Death” is a brain-buster from the apocalypse that tells the hallucinatory tale of a man intoxicated by greed and power; followed by “Happiness,” a gorgeous, expansive instrumental, which sounds like an orchestra conducted by Ray Davies.

The band is already recreating the depth of these new studio recordings live. That may seem hard to pull off, but for anyone who’s ever seen Apollo Sunshine, maniacally switching instruments, producing an extra-terrestrial sea of tones, this is where they shine the brightest. Over the last few years they’ve toured with Apples In Stereo, Dr. Dog, and They Might Be Giants, Toots and the Maytals and performed at Bonnaroo, Langerado, and Sasquatch. This summer they’ve already played at the Wakarusa Festival in Lawrence, Kansas and they’ll also be appearing at the 2008 Wireless Festival in London.

There is an impression you get from an amazing mix, where distinct parts add up to a unified feeling; and with each play, the range of sounds grow more connected to each other. It’s these gifts, “albums” traded among friends that inspired Shall Noise Upon. It will have you believing in love, in a world both dangerous and beautiful.

Listen to the brand-new track, “666: The Coming Of The New World Government,” here. [DOWNLOAD]

Apollo Sunshine Tour Dates

June 26 - San Francisco, CA @ 12 Galaxies
August 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

CONNECT: World’s Fair | MySpace | Website

Still, um, Jonesing, for more funk and soul this summer? Daptone’s got you covered, courtesy of the 7 Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2, which came out (digitally-only) yesterday. The album’s a nice assortment of some of the label’s favorite 45s, none of which have ever found their way onto any Daptone CD or LP. Lee Fields and the Sugarman 3 and the Dap-Kings (with and without Sharon Jones) both have songs included on it, as does Charles Bradley, who contributes this most excellent track:

Check out the Charles Bradley & The Bullets track “Now That I’m Gone” [DOWNLOAD]

Speaking of the Dap-Kings, their horn section is responsible for the great brass work on Al Green’s new record, Lay It Down, where they, according to The Boston Globe, “effortlessly toggle between urbane cool and juke-joint funk.”

Watch the magic happen!

Album: Daptone 7 inch Singles Collection Vol. 2
Label: Daptone Records
Street Date: June 3rd, 2008
Formats: mp3

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

The Dandy Warhols are back and ushering in a rockin’ return to form with their sixth LP, Earth To The Dandy Warhols, the band’s debut album as masters of their own destiny. Pulling together the diverse sounds and influences that have always characterized their music, it’s quintessential Dandys, full of the same dry vigor that’s made them world famous. Earth To The Dandy Warhols is set for release on August 19, 2008 via The Dandy Warhols’ newly minted Beat The World Records.

From the Some Girls-era Rolling Stones-meets-Talking Heads “Welcome To The Third World,” to the campy “Mis Amigos,” to the psychedelic rock of “Beast of Saints,” Earth To The Dandy Warhols is pleasure of a ride that allows you to fully settle into it while still keeping you on your toes. The band reached out to their friends, too, inviting Dire Strait’s Mark Knopfler and the Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell to join in on the rollicking “Love Song.” “The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty,” is a 21st century take on outlaw country that has Courtney Taylor-Taylor growling melodically over dusty guitar riffs. Earth to the Dandy Warhols serves as a stunning platform into a new era of The Dandy Warhols’ career, and places the band firmly in the ranks of rock’s elite class.

The Dandys treated fans to the party-starting opener “The World Come On” on May 5th, in conjunction with the re-launch of their website, through which fans also can get an early jump on the album through a digital subscription service (launched May 19th).

The Dandy Warhols kick off their 2008 touring extravaganza with a Pacific Northwest run in June, followed by European Festival dates in July, and a fall North American tour.

June 17 Victoria, BC @ Element Nightclub (w/the Upsidedown)
June 18 Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theatre (w/the Upsidedown)
June 20 Seattle, WA @ Showbox SoDo (w/the Upsidedown & Monstrous)
June 21 Portland, OR @ Roseland Theater (w/the Upsidedown & Monstrous)

Check out “The World Come On” here! [DOWNLOAD]

Track Listing:
1. The World Come On
2. Mission Control
3. Welcome To The Third World
4. Wasp In the Lotus
5. And Then I Dreamt Of Yes
6. Talk Radio
7. Love Song
8. Now You Love Me
9. Mis Amigos
10. The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty
11. Beast Of All Saints
12. Valerie Yum
13. Musee D’Nougat

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

More news on the Daptone front! Their first venture away from the straight-up funk and soul they’ve built their name on is coming out August 19th. It’s an a cappella gospel album, it’s called COMO NOW: The Voices of Panola County, MS, and well, it’s pretty cool. The full press release follows…

Deep in the heart of Panola County, Mississippi lies Como, a small rural town where children and grown folks alike have been living and breathing gospel for as long as they can remember. In the summer of 2006, Daptone Records placed a small ad in local papers and on the radio inviting singers to come down to Mt. Mariah Church to record their songs. The result is COMO NOW, a stirring collection of traditional and original a cappella gospel from the voices of Panola County’s own families.

It may seem like a leap for Daptone Records to be releasing an album of a cappella gospel music. Daptone has earned a reputation for creating and proliferating the purest of today’s soul and funk music. Why gospel? And why without any instrumentation? If you put aside the analytical categories of the music critic for a moment, and just listen to the record, the answer becomes simple and clear: this is soulful music.

“When Michael Reilly came to me with his first recordings of the Como Mama’s, I remember hearing it and being blown away. Though I’ve been into soul Music for a very long time, it has only been in the past few years that I really got deeper into gospel music. I owe this in no small part to Cliff Driver who invited to play bass behind Naomi Shelton and the gospel Queens. Through, Naomi, Sharon Jones, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Wilson Picket, Aretha Franklin, and several other heroes of mine, the line distinguishing Soul Music from Gospel became much less significant. For me it was less of an academic lineage than a visceral feeling that I started to get from listening to old records by the Soul Stirrers, The Highway QC’s, Dorothy Love Coates, The Mighty Pilgrim Travelers, The Blind Boys, and The Violinaires. They were the same sounds, the same feeling, as listening to James Brown, Tina Turner and Lee Fields when they were really wailing. Otis Redding when he was really pleading. Al Green when he was really moaning. Sounds that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. The recordings Michael played me gave me the same feeling.” - Gabriel Roth

The 16 songs on this record feature performances by every one of the singers that came down to Mt. Mariah Church on July 22nd, 2006. Though their music is steeped in tradition, it should not be filed away as some sort of academic field recording. It was not made for the archives of the Library of Congress, nor for the benefit of musicologists and anthropologists. COMO NOW is a contemporary recording of contemporary people. From the slow stirring duets of Brother Raymond and Sister Joella Walker to the bouncing harmonies of the Jones Sisters, every song on this record is meant for you, they’re contemporary, to hear how the people of Como, Mississippi sing – right now.

Album: COMO NOW
Label: Daptone Records
Street Date: August 19, 2008

CONNECT: World’s Fair | MySpace | Website

Always at the forefront of what’s new and fresh in music, SEEN/ RCRD LBL premiered the title track off Peter von Poehl’s forthcoming debut release…

“Swedish singer-songwriter Peter von Poehl creates illuminated dreamscapes with his music. His forthcoming album (to be released June 10 in North America) Going To Where The Tea Trees Are boasts inspired arrangements using guitar, piano harmonies, sax, and Peter’s unmistakable falsetto that don’t really sound like anything else you’ve heard before.” [read more @ SEEN/ RCRD LBL]

Peter von Poehl - “Going To Where The Tea Trees Are” [DOWNLOAD]

The video for “The Story Of The Impossible” was the top featured video on YouTube earlier this week…

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

The Postmarks — “Five Years” [FREE DOWNLOAD @ EMUSIC]
This month’s blurb is from Jonathan Wilkins: “It is not too far fetched to imagine Armageddon in these times… a fiery end that David Bowie captured beautifully in ‘Five Years.’ The song expresses the myriad of emotions a world would feel if they knew they only had five years left to live. It reminds us that we often neglect reflection and insist on burying our heads in the sand for fear that the world will end if we pay attention to it.”

The Postmarks recently finished up a quick stint of shows in their homestate of Florida, all of which continued to show off, as Flavorpill stated, their “haunting, heartsick ballads and rosy pop melodies,” or, as The Miami Herald put nicely, music that’s created “with the hearts of listeners in mind.”

Prefix also put some up some great pics of the April 30th Orlando show, including the one below.

The Palm Beach Post called the band’s “combination of beautiful melody and retro-Euro influences” “a standout” at May 1st’s SunFest, while another Post writer said of them: “I’ve always liked their music, and after seeing them live, I like them even more.”

The Broward-Palm Beach New Times also featured the band as part of a preview of the May 2 show, which was free in celebration of the June UK release of The Postmarks, a lifelong dream of Christopher Moll’s.

Get the rest of “By The Numbers” exclusively at eMusic - for free mp3 download!

The Postmarks - “OX4″ [FREE DOWNLOAD @ EMUSIC]

The Postmarks - “Three Little Birds” [FREE DOWNLOAD @ EMUSIC]

The Postmarks - “You Only Live Twice” [FREE DOWNLOAD @ EMUSIC]

The Postmarks - “One Note Samba” [FREE DOWNLOAD @ EMUSIC]

More info on the By The Numbers series - click here…

Artist: The Postmarks
Album: The Postmarks [LISTEN]
Label: Unfiltered
Street Date: Feb 6th, 2006
Formats: CD, mp3

CONNECT: World’s Fair | Myspace | Website

Still propelled by the energy from an explosive 2007, funk revitalizers Daptone Records are treating their fans to a digital-only compilation of some of their most treasured 45s. Out June 3, Daptone 7 Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2 is comprised of 13 tracks from some of the label’s finest artists, including Lee Fields and Sugarman 3, the now-defunct Mighty Imperials, Charles Bradley, and of course the incomparable Sharon Jones, alongside her band the Dap-Kings, who are now practically a household name.

Never before released by Daptone on either CD or LP, the collection offers the exclusiveness of vinyl with the convenience of digital formatting, perfect for barbeques or humid July nights, for road trips or back-porch gatherings. So start the summer out right, with plenty of funk. And hey, there’s no arguing that burgers taste better with an acclaimed horn section behind them.

Though Jones’s cover of Kenny Rogers’s “I Just Dropped In to See What Condition My Condition Was In” — by now a staple of her live show — is a definite standout, the singer’s emotive voice transporting the song from its psychedelic roots to something based in the organic grit and toil of soul and R&B, music enthusiasts of all types will find inspiration in the fast-paced funk of Charles Bradley’s “Can’t Stop Thinking About You,” the wah-wah-driven groove of Lee Fields’s “Stand Up,” and Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra’s take on the Willie Colón salsa standard “Che Che Colé.”

Check out the Charles Bradley & The Bullets track “Now That I’m Gone” [DOWNLOAD]

Daptone 7 Inch Singles Collection, Vol. 2 is a necessary piece in the ever-growing discography of one of the most exciting young labels of the new millennium; but more than that, it’s great music, music that shouldn’t be held back by format or player, music that needs to — and now can — be heard by everyone.

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

The Dandy Warhols are back and ushering in a rockin’ return to form with Earth To The Dandy Warhols, the band’s debut album as masters of their own destiny. Pulling together the diverse sounds and influences that have always characterized their music, it’s quintessential Dandys, and it’s set to be self-released this summer via the Dandys’ newly minted Beat The World Records.

But you don’t have to wait until then to hear the new tracks! Beginning today, May 5, the new album is featured in over 10,000 AMI Jukeboxes across the nation. May 5th also marks the re-launch of the Dandy Warhols website: visitors will be treated to a free download of the opening track, the party-starting “The World Come On.”

The good folks at Stereogum also premiered the track today, calling it a “bouncy, percussive, smeary group lift-off.” [click here]

And, as if that’s not enough for one day, the Dandy Warhols are putting on an event at 111 Minna Gallery in San Francisco to celebrate, complete with a Dandys-equipped AMI Jukebox and Cinco de Mayo fare, not excluding free tequila by Hornitos. Zia from the Dandys will be manning the decks, and Peter and Brent will also be on hand.

WHEN: MONDAY, MAY 5, 5pm – 10pm
WHERE: 111 MINNA GALLERY

111 MINNA ST @ 2ND
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94105
415.974.1719
FREE!

From the Some Girls-era Rolling Stones-meets-Talking Heads “Welcome to the Third World,” to the campy “Mis Amigos,” to the psychedelic rock of “Beast of Saints,” Earth To The Dandy Warhols is pleasure of a ride that gives you the space to fully settle into it while still keeping you on your toes. The band reached out to some of their many friends, too, inviting Dire Strait’s Mark Knopfler and the Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell to join in on the rollicking “Love Song.” Earth To The Dandy Warhols is a stunning platform into a new era of the Dandys’ career, and places the band firmly in the ranks of rock’s elite class.

The Dandy Warhols will kick off their 2008 touring extravaganza with a Pacific Northwest run in June, followed by European Festival dates in July, and a fall North American tour.

Earth To The Dandy Warhols Track Listing:

1. The World Come On *free download
2. Mission Control
3. Welcome To The Third World
4. Wasp In the Lotus
5. And Then I Dreamt Of Yes
6. Talk Radio
7. Love Song
8. Now You Love Me
9. Mis Amigos
10. The Legend Of The Last Of The Outlaw Truckers AKA The Ballad Of Sheriff Shorty
11. Beast Of All Saints
12. Valerie Yum
13. Musee D’Nougat

CONNECT: Website | Myspace | YouTube | Facebook