INCOMING: Ex-Cult at Empty Bottle TONIGHT 21+ #Punk

Chi, IL LIVE Shows on Our Radar: Returning to the Bottle for their first show here since opening for MAC DEMARCO at last Summer's Pitchfork After Party are Memphis punks EX-CULT, a band we've come to know and love since we came across their debut record in 2012. Released on the esteemed Goner Records and produced by eventual tour partner TY SEGALL, that album was one of the best, most under-appreciated punk releases of the year and you can bet your ass they've outdone themselves with their second LP, Midnight Passenger, out April 29th on Goner. Formerly known as SEX CULT, this seasoned five-piece play ripping punk rock like none other, incorporating angular post-punk, flying saucer fuzz guitar, layers of psychedelic slime and snotty vocals with a bash-your-head-in energy that needs to be seen live to be believed.  Thu May 29 2014 9:00 PM 21+ Ex-Cult FacebookSoundcloud Running BandcampSoundcloud Earring FacebookBandcamp $10.00 Chicago noise-punks RUNNING are a band that give very few fucks (if any fucks at all). Their second full length LP, Asshole Savant, released last year via Captcha, is a mess of reverbed-to-heck vocals, pummeling drum and bass, and abrasive, feedback-heavy guitar. RUNNING caught the ears of JOHN DWYER, hunky frontman of THEE OH SEES, and his own Castle Face Records put out the band's third record, Vaguely Ethnic, at the end of last summer. The LP continues RUNNING's path of destruction in and around Chicago, shriveling the tits and testicles of any sniveling boners who try to stand in their way. The trio has a brand spanking new 7-inch out, courtesy of the fine folks at Drag City. Pick it up tonight or at one of your local record stores.  Local Freak-punk duo EARRING return to the Bottle tonight to open this punk explosion and they've been creating quite a stir around the city the past few months. Luca from the Chicago Reader selected them as one of the Top Chicago Bands of 2013, saying "Their lean, simple pop hooks, blasted through a tower of warm guitar amps and drenched in a droney, melancholy vibe, make for the year's prettiest, most irresistible collection of songs from a young local band." Included in Luca's list were some other local favorites DISAPPEARS and OOZING WOUND, so these fellas are in damn fine company. Memphis' Ex-Cult are one of the most exciting punk bands in the US. Their latest record Midnight Passenger  is the result of a never ending obsession with the open road. While touring with the likes of Ty Segall and the OBN III's, Ex-Cult perfected their own brand of psych tinged  proto-punk, helmed by wild eyed, sneering frontman Chris Shaw. Pitchfork: Advance streamed the band's latest LP  "Midnight Passenger" noting, "The production opens up the band's sound exponentially.  Nothing's remotely muffled, so the guitars jump out a little faster, and Shaw's voice is given more of a spotlight. " You can check out Ex-Cult's Ty Segall produced Record Store Day version of "Ties You Up" on Pitchfork here! Ex-Cult Stream "Midnight Passenger" LP  On Pitchfork Advance Out April 29th On Goner Records  On Tour This Spring Tour 05-02 Memphis, TX - Hi-Tone * 05-16 Nashville, TN - The End 05-17 Atlanta, GA - 529 05-18 Durham, NC - The Pinhook 05-19 Richmond, VA - Strange Matter 05-20 Washington, DC - DC 9 05-21 Philadelphia, PA - Black Box 05-22 New York, NY - Mercury Lounge ^ 05-24 Beacon, NY - Quinns 05-26 Cambridge, MA - Middle East Upstairs 05-28 Cleveland, OH - Happy Dog 05-29 Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle # 05-30 Iowa City, IA - Firecracker 500 Festival  * w/ Sector Zero and Gimp Teeth ^ w/ Pampers # w/ Running Praise For Ex-Cult: "'The album suddenly feels vital and electric" --Pitchfork "Not A Threat” is also crisp and streamlined, its guitar tracks locking into mechanical combustion fits while Chris Shaw barks with swaggering unhinged authority" --Stereogum "It's all about the live show, and, without a doubt, Ex-Cult has that blindfolded, on one-leg and with their arms tied behind them." --NOISEY "[Midnight Passenger's] title track, a relentless mix of propeller-chop guitar, churning noise-rock squall, and monotone taunts.” – SPIN “Singer Chris Shaw is a classic punk frontman, wild-eyed and always on the edge" --Brooklyn Vegan “Memphis punk outfit Ex-Cult is twisting the genre into new shapes on their self-titled debut.” – MTV Hive Listen To The RSD Version Of "Ties You Up" On Pitchfork Ex-Cult's Midnight Passenger is the result of a never ending obsession with the open road. It's the sound of five people spending the last year in countless dive bars, disgusting motel rooms and on dozens of dirty floors.  Since recording with Ty Segall in 2012 the band hasn't come up for air, putting four US tours and tons of weekend trips under their belt with the likes of OBN III's, Captive and Ty Segall. It was in these dive bars across the USA that Ex-Cult truly found their sound. While some of the songs were played for audiences as early as January of 2013, it wasn't until a West Coast tour in June that the blue print for Midnight Passenger really started to take form. Taking pieces of every tour back home with them, the band began to hone a sound that captured the desperation of the first record, while being careful to integrate new techniques of negative noise. Recorded by Doug Easley in January of 2014, Midnight Passenger is comprised of ten songs that were meant to be heard together, each one following a different, damaged storyline. The buzz-saw guitars, kraut rock rhythm section and sneering vocals are all still present, but with Midnight Passenger, Ex-Cult has added a few layers of psychedelic slime to their sound. Pre-Order "Midnight Passenger" Digitally Pre-Order "Midnight Passenger" On Vinyl "Midnight Passenger" Track Listing: Side A Shattered Circle Ties You Up Midnight Passenger Confusion Hill Catholic Entries Side B Flickering Eyes Venice Illusion Sid Visions Not A Threat Lights Out Club Links: Ex-Cult Facebook Ex-Cult Tumblr Goner Records Midnight Passenger is out on Goner Records on April 29th 2014. Media Listen To 'Not A Threat' On Stereogum Listen To 'Shattered Circle' On NOISEY! Listen To 'Midnight Passenger' On SPIN!

HOZAC BLACKOUT FEST! 3 Day Passes Sold Out/ Single Day Available

Chi, IL Live Shows on Our Radar:

May 15-17 @ the Empty Bottle with The Boys (UK), The Dictators NYC, Counter Intuits
SHOCKED MINDS, FIRST BASE,  A GIANT DOG,  999999999, NONES, TOUPEE, THE MAN, RAINBOW GUN SHOW

We've got UNBELIEVABLE headliners at this year's HoZac Blackout Fest! This will be THE BOYS (UK) first show in America in over six years and only their fourth ever US gig! Legendary protopunk band THE DICTATORS NYC are hitting the Bottle for the first time since the year 2000 and their debut album, Go Girl Crazy!, was recently named #1 in Uncut Magazine’s  “50 Greatest American Punk Albums!” Thursday's Art Show headliner, COUNTER INTUITS, features Columbus, OH punk hero RON HOUSE, formerly of THOMAS JEFFERSON SLAVE APARTMENTS, and ADAM ELLIOTT of TIMES NEW VIKING.

Also playing this year's fest is FIRST BASE (Toronto, HoZac), SHOCKED MINDS (ex-CARBONAS, NYC, HoZac), 999999999 (ex-TUNNEL OF LOVE, MA, HoZac), A GIANT DOG (members of OBN III's/Bad Sports, TX), NONES (debut LP release show on HoZac), TOUPEE (Rotted Tooth, Chicago), THE MAN (debut EP release show, HoZac), and RAINBOW GUN SHOW (Chicago, HoZac).

Three Day Passes are already SOLD OUT, but you can still get individual show tickets RIGHT HERE!

INCOMING: Chicago's North by North Debut Double LP Release at Empty Bottle 1/23 #FreeStreaming

Chi, IL Live Shows on Our Radar:

Chicago’s North by North will celebrate the release of their debut, double LP, Something Wicked, with a show at the Empty Bottle on Thursday, Jan. 23: http://emptybottle.com/show/3933594/.

The album streams at http://northbynorth.bandcamp.com/.  

Harnessing a love of gritty, classic rock and dance music, THE IVORYS a trio of young Chicago whipper-snappers who walk the line between power pop, indie-rock and good ol' rock'n'roll. The band has played Chicago extensively and toured around the U.S. with stops at SXSW over the past two years while building a steady fan base her at home and around the country. Come witness THE IVORYS' animated, electrifying live show with your own eyeballs and remember to clean the drool off your face. 

Another power-trio of sorts, Chicago's NORTH BY NORTH veer in a completely different direction, playing more angular, heavy rock that's veers in spastic-but-anthemic directions. Tonight the band is celebrating the release of their first LP, Something Wicked, which is the perfect titled for the ball of hook-laden, noisey fury they've created in all EIGHTEEN songs. Fans of fuzzy, bluesy rock'n'roll aren't gonna want to miss their set tonight - be sure and pick up a copy of the record on your way out. 

Opening tonight's show and making their EB debut is AKTAR AKTAR, a Chicago four-piece who meld Brit-pop with American folk-rock on their debut LP, Mothershipman. The album was released in late 2011 and we're excited to hear what new tunes they'll have for us tonight.

Thu Jan 23 2014

9:00 PM

• The Ivorys
• Official WebsiteFacebookYoutube
• North By North (record release)
• FacebookBandcamp
• Aktar Aktar
• Official WebsiteFacebook

$8.00

INCOMING: YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN at Empty Bottle THIS Tuesday 11/5

YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN

After after a busy week in New York for CMJ, YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN are not slowing down.

Their sophomore album UZU which is out on Suicide Squeeze Records in the US and Paper Bag in Canada next week, can be streamed now via Pitchfork Advance. The stream is accompanied by some incredible art work compiled by Alaska B., who tells us that "the art is a sampling of the visual history of YT//ST as culled from the archive. It includes documentation of newer works (eg 33, Hoshi Neko) done since the release of YT//ST in 2011, as well as old documentation from the first 18 months of our collective's history."

Click Here To Stream UZU On Pitchfork Advance

Photo Credit: Derrick Belcham

Paper Magazine cited them as the number one band who will "Cure Your CMJ Fatigue," telling us "Pioneers of their very own "Noh-wave" genre, Canada's Yamantaka // Sonic Titan take psychedelia, Buddhist iconography, seizure-inducing lights and detuned guitars and whip it all into an eye-popping whole." 

Time Out New York were also excited for the band's shows writing "We're particularly psyched on sludgy, proggy Montreal music and performance-art collective Yamantaka // Sonic Titan."

Now back in their hometowns of Montreal and Toronto, YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN are getting ready to hit the road for more North American dates including a very special (and spooky) show at the famous Basilica in Hudson on Halloween. All tour dates are listed below, definitely one of the best live shows you will see all year.

Remaining North American Tour Dates / 11/05 - The Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL 9:00 PM Yamantaka // Sonic Titan Official WebsiteFacebookBandcamp Electric Hawk FacebookAdditionalReverb Nation Cleric Official WebsiteFacebookBandcampWeb of Mimicry $8.00 11/06 - The Garrison - Toronto, ON 11/07 - Babylon - Ottawa, ON Bio / The rock opera generally references the ambitious and occasionally bloated concept albums of seasoned big name artists. Rarely is it used to conjure a Pynchon-worthy fusion of high and low culture or a blurring of the lines between theater and music. But in the case of Toronto/Montreal art partnership YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN, rock opera carries all the latter connotations of the nexus between tradition and irreverence, performance art and unbridled noise. The duality of fusing Old World classicism with New World innovation goes to the very core of the group—their name is a melding of the Buddhist “terminator of death” deity with a song title by seminal stoner doom band Sleep. They describe themselves as “Noh-wave”, a nod to both classical Japanese drama and the nihilistic art-punk scene of a pre-Giuliani New York City. The yin-and-yang philosophy permeates every facet of YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN. The project centers around Alaska B and Ruby Kato Attwood, two art students with a mutual love of opposing forces—heavy metal’s brutish assault with Japanese manga’s cartoonish appeal, Boredom’s experimentalism with Chinese opera, lofty schemes and low budget endeavors. The duo started out by building instruments out of found objects—once again highlighting their paradoxical nature by turning trash into art and rendering structured beauty out of detritus. Their performances veered more towards theater, with Alaska and Ruby constructing elaborate stage settings out of cardboard pasted with industrial-sized Xeroxed designs and donning elaborate Kabuki-style costumes and make-up. Such unorthodox ventures could repel the rock crowd, but YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN’s debut album YT//ST dispelled any concerns that Alaska and Ruby didn’t know how to lay siege with their instruments.  Anchored by Alaska’s unrepentant drumming—a blend of Melvins drummer Dale Crover’s signature stomp and Einsturzende Neubauten’s proto-industrial thud—and Ruby’s soaring soprano, YT//ST took the narrative arc and keyboard foundation of Genesis’ rock opera The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway and injected the psychedelic doom of Boris’ Pink. With their sophomore effort UZU, Alaska and Ruby continue their exploration of cultural dualities. While YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN has always provided an outlet for the core duo’s celebration of their Asian heritage, the inclusion of auxiliary musicians and artists into the fold has reinforced one of the most crucial defining dualities of the group: the merging of diasporic and indigenous perspectives. This meeting of East and West is perhaps most visible in UZU’s lead single “One”. As the first YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN song to extend the songwriting credits beyond the core duo, “One” incorporates the indigenous upbringings of the extended group by leading off with a traditional Iroquois song. The introductory chant is a social song calling all people together, and is performed by people of the Mohawk tribe. From there, the band kicks into a driving guitar line and a vocal hook as sweet as any J-pop hit. Metal riffing, free-jazz cacophony, and meditative Eastern percussion patterns accentuate the song. In the hands of lesser visionaries, this kind of cross-pollination would sound like a schizophrenic genre mash-up.  But YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN’s appropriations never sound forced. Rather, it sounds like a celebration of the cultural collision of Alaska and Ruby’s upbringing. The hybridization is evident throughout UZU--you can hear it in the operatic piano-and-vocal opener “Atalanta” segueing into the dynamic prog of “Whalesong”, the Eastern melodies seamlessly melding into the synth arpeggio and guitar dirge of “Windflower”, the musical storytelling tradition of “Seasickness Pt. 1” juxtaposing with the Heart-like classic rock gallop of “Seasickness Pt. 2”, and the closing choir passage of “Saturn’s Return” descending into Merzbow-esque white noise. It is safe to say there is no other band like YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN on the planet. In a world that is increasingly homogenized, a record like UZU is all the more important for demonstrating how disparate cultural perspectives can merge into something entirely new while retaining their individual sovereign character. UZU is available on CD/LP and digital formats in the United States via Suicide Squeeze Records on October 29, 2013. The LP version contains a free download of the album and the first 500 copies are pressed on grey vinyl.

UZU | Tracklisting / 01. Atalanta 02. Whalesong 03. Lamia 04. Windflower 05. Hall of Mirrors  06. Seasickness Pt. 1 07. Seasickness Pt. 2 08. Bring Me The Hand Of Bloody Benzaiten 09. One 10. Saturn's Return  Press Quotes / "The record feels wholly substantial and satisfying in its own right, and even those with no prior knowledge of YT//ST's history and elaborate intentions can just enjoy it for what it is: volcanic prog-rock colored with equal parts post-punk urgency, stoner-metal heft, and psychedelic pop whimsy." Pitchfork "YT//ST creates full-scale events, complete with eerie face-paint, monochromatic paper sets and Boredoms-style drum blasts that blend black metal and kabuki into a jaw-dropping new form. The group's debut album is equally epic, yet it's all just a glimpse into their master plan to freak out the squares with a stage production so large no theatrein the world could contain it." Noisey "We'll sheepishly admit we're relatively new to Yamantaka's unique breed of gloomy, Kabuki-tinged metal-cum-experimental rock opera (or "noh-wave." as they call it), but from what we've heard (and seen) from the collective, we definitely dig." SPIN "The music they create is a compelling blend of psych-rock, metal and thundering atmosphere." Stereogum "Yamantaka // Sonic Titan, whose so-called "Noh-wave" is heavy and hallucinogenic, blends influences such as Boredoms, Black Sabbath and Japanese manga." The Guardian "We realized Canada’s Yamantaka//Sonic Titan was basically the most amazing band on the planet when we heard their debut album YT//ST. That gorgeous mountain of rock led us to interview the entire band for about an hour, in which time they basically took turns blowing our minds. Their awesomeness is top of mind." MTV "A reputation for elaborate designed DIY live shows, which, like the group’s music, incorporates influences from across time and space. But most importantly, its music, as strange and dense as it can be, is an oddly accessible and strangely enjoyable listen." AV Club "At times, YT//ST feels like some sort of ritual guide into another world. There, priestess attempt to drone a second sight into followers, standing in a forest of shuddering percussive trees, just at the edge of a sea of jagged guitar waves." Consequence of Sound "The album is as harrowing as the black and white cover, a wasteland, fallen from the sky, drawn ambiguously in the foreground with darker elements looming in the background." The Examiner Links / YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN Website YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN Facebook YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN Twitter YAMANTAKA // SONIC TITAN Bandcamp Suicide Squeeze Records

Dirty Beaches Acclaimed double LP Drifters/Love Is The Devil & Remaining US Tour Dates

Did you catch them last night at Empty Bottle?!  Check back with ChiIL Live Shows like we vote in Chi, IL... early and often.   We will be reviewing Dirty Beaches' critically acclaimed double LP Drifters/Love Is The Devil shortly.

DIRTY BEACHES



Photo Credit: Anna Zelikova

Dirty Beaches' Drifters/Love Is The Devil has been one of the standout records of 2013 so far, receiving a Best New Music from Pitchfork and rave reviews across the board. The man behind the project, Alex Hung-Tai Chang, has asserted himself as one of the most dynamic and exciting artists making music at the moment.   

Now for the first time since the album's release on Zoo Music, he'll be touring North America with his full band. The show is electric and brings to life this complex and beautiful collection of songs as captured here in the recent video for Casino Lisboa.

Dirty Beaches has announced a full North American tour this fall in celebration of his acclaimed new double album, Drifters/Love Is The Devil, out now on ZOO MUSIC. He'll also be releasing a special, limited edition tape only version of the double record while on tour. Click Here To Stream Dirty Beaches' Interview on NPR's All Things Considered The solo project of Alex Huang Hungtai, Dirty Beaches has perhaps surprised his already familiar audience of fans with Drifters/Love Is The Devil, a double record that toes the line between his carefully refined rockabilly sound and one that leads more towards instrumental film scores, characterized by intensely beautiful and often melancholy emotion. The artist went on NPR recently to discuss the new double record and some of its influences and history, called "washy, dreamy rock music that often feels nostalgic."  Meanwhile, Pitchfork glowingly discussed the record in their Best New Music album review, calling it, "both sprawling and detailed, a sonic travelogue that takes the textural aspects of his work to impressionistic heights...Drifters/Love Is the Devil is more robust and eccentric than anything he's ever released before." Remaining North American Tour Dates 2013 / 09.12.13 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL #  09.13.13 - Firebird - St. Louis, MO # 09.14.13 - Exit In - Nashville, TN # 09.15.13 - Bottletree - Birmingham, AL # 09.17.13 - The Mohawk - Austin, TX # 09.19.13 - Rhythm Room - Phoenix, AZ # 09.20.13 - Echo - Los Angeles, CA # % 09.21.13 - The Void - San Diego, CA # % 09.22.13 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA # % 09.24.13 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR # % 09.25.13 - Barboza - Seattle, WA # % 09.26.13 - Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, BC # %  * with Heathered Pearls, Xray Eyeballs ^ with Heathered Pearls & Eola (collaboration), Porcelain Raft, Andy Boay # with Sisu % with Chasms Assets / Dirty Beaches Video for "Casino Lisboa" "Love Is The Devil" on Youtube "Casino Lisboa" on Soundcloud "Landscapes In The Mist" on Soundcloud Pitchfork Best New Music Album Review Feature Interview with Stereogum Dirty Beaches Interview on BULLETT Interview on NPR's All Things Considered Feature Interview with Impose Alex Zhang Hungtai, AKA Dirty Beaches, started off as a one man band in 2005 in Montreal. A trans-pacific nomad and genre hopping sound smith, his past releases include drone instrumentals, film scores and a fascination with dissecting popular american music like blues, rockabilly, soul, RNB, and hip hop, often rendering them to the point where its no longer recognizable. His latest release, Drifters/Love Is The Devil, is a double LP that chronicles the musician's life on the road over the past 2 years,  as we follow him down the rabbit hole through the labyrinths of Berlin, Belgrade, Paris, and many other cities through heartbreak, rebirth and masochistic existential self reflection. Recorded between Montreal and Berlin in the winter of 2012, the double LP is separated only by aesthetics, as they are tightly woven together thematically as one conceptual piece. If 2011's Badlands was an exercise in exorcising past ghosts in a semi-fictional world, then Drifters/Love Is The Devil is a reflection on the fragility of reality. One, of the surface world in which he explores the night life of bright neon temptations dwelling in hedonistic irresponsible values, and the other of the inner world, one of remorse and lovelorn tragedies. As stated by the artist himself, "the most honest piece of music I've ever written." Drifters/Love Is The Devil is out now on ZOO MUSIC. Drifters Tracklisting / 01. Night Walk 02. I Dream In Neon 03. Belgrade 04. Casino Lisboa 05. ELLI 06. Aurevoir Mon Visage 07. Mirage Hall 08. Landscapes In The Mist  Love Is The Devil Tracklisting / 01. Greyhound At Night 02. This Is Not My City 03. Woman 04. Love Is The Devil 05. Alone At The Danube River 06. I Don't Know How To Find My Way Back To You 07. Like The Ocean We Part 08. Berlin  Quotes / "Both sprawling and detailed, a sonic travelogue that takes the textural aspects of his work to impressionistic heights." Pitchfork "Washy, dreamy rock music that often feels nostalgic." NPR "Ambitious new double album, Drifters/Love Is The Devil, stylishly reflects the dislocation of the road more traveled, hovering on the edge of dread...the oblique confessionals and elegiac atmosphere belie a certain cinematic grandeur." Interview Magazine "A double album steeped in grainy nostalgia that ventures further into the heart of film noir...an Oscar-worthy soundtrack waiting to happen." NYLON "Drifters sees Hungtai dabble in spartan post-punk, rickety industrial and devil-at-the-crossroads blues. Love Is The Devil, meanwhile, is an instrumental song-suite, alternately redolent of Angelo Badalamenti and Forest Swords." FACT "This double album is really good, and Alex Zhang Hungtai rules." VICE "It's a demanding, damn good and rewarding listen, one that squeezes your heart and head through shaking fingers." Filter "Laying down a rattling, distortion-heavy foundation while the man spits semi-intelligible venom from a mouth that seems caught in a permanent rockabilly sneer. There are echoes of both Tonetta and Brian Eno, with hints of the utter nothing that awaits us at the end of this crushing existence." SPIN "Drifters/Love is the Devil is a pair of poignant records. Hungtai’s ideas swing rapidly from beautiful to chaotic to completely atonal...Fortunately, Hungtai has let us into his world, no matter what darkness we might find there." Consequence of Sound "The gloomy and beautiful tracks on Love is the Devil may be pointing a way forward for Dirty Beaches, they may have been conceived as a spiritual complement to Drifters, or they may just be a temporary detour; whatever their intent though, their presence is a welcome addition to the Dirty Beaches catalog." Paste Links / Dirty Beaches on Facebook Dirty Beaches on Twitter Dirty Beaches Official Website ZOO MUSIC

TONIGHT at Empty Bottle: SISU, Ell V Gore & Dirty Beaches

SISU and Ell V Gore are playing with Dirty Beaches at The Empty Bottle tonight (September 12th).  For SISU, Sandy Vu of The Dum Dum Girls steps out from behind the kit to showcase her shoegaze take on electro and dreamy vocals. SISU sounds like a mix between Chromatics, Karen O vocals and m b v reminiscent washes.  SISU are releasing their debut LP 'Blood Tears', September 17th on Mono Prism and just premiered their new track 'Harpoons' on Brooklyn Vegan.  Credit Steven Perlin Toronto's Ell V Gore is the project of 24 year old Ell V who has been playing in weirdo punk and no wave bands for the past decade. He is also a man known around town for throwing some of the freakiest underground parties in the city. Ell V Gore just released the 'Sex Static' EP on Ben Cook of Fucked Up's label, Bad Actors.You can check out his latest video for 'Her Vicious' on Brooklyn Vegan.  SISU Premiere 'Harpoons' On Brooklyn Vegan, Debut LP "Blood Tears" Out September 17th On Mono Prism Records On Fall Tour With Dirty Beaches "Blood Tears" Track Listing: 1. Counting Stars 2. Cut Me Off 3. Harpoons 4. Electronic 5. Sinking Feeling 6. Let Go 7. Return The Favor 8. Shotgun Running 9. Sharp Teeth 10. Blood Tears   Remaining Tour Dates: 09/12 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle # 09/13 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird # 09/14 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In # 09/15 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree # 09/17 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk # 09/19 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room # 09/20 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo #% 09/21 - San Diego, CA - The Void #% 09/22 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #% 09/24 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios #% 09/25 - Seattle, WA - Barboza #% 09/26 - Vancouver, BC, Canada - Biltmore Cabaret #%   # with Dirty Beaches @ with Colleen Green ^ with Whirr, Nothing % with Chasms Praise For SISU: "Sandra Vu's band make gothy postpunk/shoegaze a la Lush or Slowdive (with a slinky dash of Siouxsie perhaps"-- Brooklyn Vegan "The Light Eyes EP's "Two Thousands Hands" channeled the dreary romance of Cocteau Twins, but this latest track hews closer to the post-punky rhythms and urgent pacing of the Cure's earlier output." -- Spin “Unleashing waves of dark, melodic rhythms and thudding percussion, SISU inject their warped aesthetic into the mold of ’80s synth-pop, resulting in a something more dense and evocative that still manages to maintain its carefree shimmer." -- Consequence Of Sound The dark-tinged, hazy shoegaze outfit sees Vu step out from behind the kit as the band's main songwriting force, building upon the Dum Dum Girls pop-base with layers of noise and abrasion." --Impose Magazine "combines mournful jangle pop of lead singer Sandra Vu’s other group Dum Dum Girls’ with some dance-ready goth-pop."--CMJ Ell V Gore Premieres 'Her Vicious' Video On Brooklyn Vegan, Announces Tour With Dirty Beaches "Sex Static" EP Out Now On Bad Actors (Founded By Ben Cook Of Fucked Up) Watch 'Lobotomy' Video On Pitchfork! Stream The "Sex Static" EP At Brooklyn Vegan! Tour With Dirty Beaches: 9/12 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle  9/13 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird 9/14 - Nashville, TN - Exit In 9/15 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree Praise For Ell V Gore: "Surging out of the cave like the Birthday Party trying to cover Joy Division’s “Transmission”, [Lobotomy] strikes a masterful balance of barked psychosis and mechanistic precision, of primitive trash-can clang and synth-shocked futurism."--Pitchfork "Noisy, viciously catchy no wave from this wonderful Toronto weirdo" -- Noisey scuzzy, gothy post-punk you might expect given what you've read to this point. Fans of The Birthday Party, Wire, The Cramps and all things WIERD take note" -- Brooklyn Vegan "[Lobotomy's] a vicious single that sniffs the glue that built Ty Segall’s Melted and drills cascading rhythms into the back of your head" --Blare Magazine Photo Above Credit: Norman Wong Watch The 'Her Vicious' Video On Brooklyn Vegan! If Ell V Gore’s Sex Static sounds to you like it was made by four weirdos you’d meet at a pitch black, late night bizarre sex party beating their instruments half to death…well, that’s because it was. Toronto’s Ell V Gore is the project of 24 year old Ell V who has been playing in weirdo punk and no wave bands for the past decade. He is also a man known around town for throwing some of the freakiest late-night parties in the city (when he isn’t manning the microphone at strip clubs in between for cash).  Sex Static, their debut EP on Bad Actors, is an industrial punk rock beat-down. It is a visceral, dark, and loud late night album that sounds like Chairs Missing era Wire and The Birthday Party being filtered through a kaleidoscope of 90 shades of black and grey. Known around the city for their stunningly intense live show, the experience has translated well to record. The rhythm section is tight and malicious, the guitars and synthesizers scrape, scratch, and scream, and Ell V’s controlled Lux Interior-esque howl bounces off walls with the guttural intensity of Michael Gira. Weirdos, freaks, and late night delinquents – your party has begun. About Bad Actors: Bad Actors is a Toronto based boutique record label focused on bringing you the best from the next generation of the city’s best songwriters, bands, producers, and beat makers. The label is headed by Ben Cook aka Young Guv, a member of Fucked Up, and the brains behind several of Toronto’s most loved and respected musical acts including: No Warning, Yacht Club, Marvelous Darlings, and The Scuzz. His résumé also includes: starring in some of your favorite childhood TV shows, ghostwriting some of the catchiest songs amongst your most beloved guilty pleasures, and producing some of his city’s most promising musical acts. Needless to say, the Guv can bring the goods, and it was only a matter of time before he started his own label. Bad Actors will serve as a stepping-stone to bigger things for young acts, while offering them an opportunity to work closely with one of Toronto’s most creative and energetic musical forces. Upcoming releases on Bad Actors include records from industrial punk freaks Ell V Gore, guitar pop masterminds Actual Water, weirdo soul-goddess MCs Bizzarh, 17 year old producer extraordinaire Harrison and Cook’s own Yacht Club. Links: Ell V Gore Facebook Ell V Gore Tumbler Ell V Gore Twitter

TONIGHT: Shows on Our Radar SISU at Empty Bottle

SISU Stream Debut LP "Blood Tears" On Spin Out September 17th On Mono Prism Records + On Fall Tour With Dirty Beaches Watch 'Harpoons' Video On Refinery 29! Listen To 'Harpoons' On Brooklyn Vegan! "Blood Tears" Track Listing: 1. Counting Stars 2. Cut Me Off 3. Harpoons 4. Electronic 5. Sinking Feeling 6. Let Go 7. Return The Favor 8. Shotgun Running 9. Sharp Teeth 10. Blood Tears Tour Dates: 09/12 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle # 09/13 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird # 09/14 - Nashville, TN - Exit/In # 09/15 - Birmingham, AL - Bottletree # 09/17 - Austin, TX - The Mohawk # 09/19 - Phoenix, AZ - Rhythm Room # 09/20 - Los Angeles, CA - The Echo #% 09/21 - San Diego, CA - The Void #% 09/22 - San Francisco, CA - Bottom of the Hill #% 09/24 - Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios #% 09/25 - Seattle, WA - Barboza #% 09/26 - Vancouver, BC, Canada - Biltmore Cabaret #%   # with Dirty Beaches % with Chasms Links: SISU Website SISU Facebook SISU Twitter SISU Tumblr MONO PRISM Website Listen To "Blood Tears" On Spin! Pre-Order "Blood Tears" Here! Multi-instrumentalist and many-times credited studio musician (Dum Dum Girls, Boredoms, Raveonettes) Sandra Vu spent years exploring the psych rock scene in Los Angeles. Now as the front-woman of SISU, she seeks to find the natural balance between the dark with the beautiful. Through deep introspection and sonic experimentation, Blood Tears is the cummulation of Vu’s insomnia-laden nights, where she learned to channel comfort through the means of explosive contrast. Thematically dark, there is still a certain uplift and sense of light to SISU’s debut album. A distinct danceability and melodic hooks shows her knack for writing pop songs with unpop sounds. “I like to combine ‘loner sounds’—echo-ridden, cold, distorted synth sounds—with pop melodies,” Vu says. “They come from a melancholy place, but offer hope.” “Electronic” is one of Blood Tears most dynamic pieces with Vu employing a mutant form of seduction: breathy vocals that cut through synth soundscapes and pierce through distortion leave a beguiling impression on the listener. Both aggressive and sublime, it’s quintessential SISU. Blood Tears is about barreling into the fire of human tendencies—the dichotomies and struggles between desire and disgust, hope and doubt. To be human is to feel pain, and Vu attempts to find a cathartic rhythm that not only confronts these fears, but also soothes the lonely heart. Praise For SISU: "Sandra Vu's band make gothy postpunk/shoegaze a la Lush or Slowdive (with a slinky dash of Siouxsie perhaps"-- Brooklyn Vegan "The Light Eyes EP's "Two Thousands Hands" channeled the dreary romance of Cocteau Twins, but this latest track hews closer to the post-punky rhythms and urgent pacing of the Cure's earlier output." -- Spin “Unleashing waves of dark, melodic rhythms and thudding percussion, SISU inject their warped aesthetic into the mold of ’80s synth-pop, resulting in a something more dense and evocative that still manages to maintain its carefree shimmer." -- Consequence Of Sound "The dark-tinged, hazy shoegaze outfit sees Vu step out from behind the kit as the band's main songwriting force, building upon the Dum Dum Girls pop-base with layers of noise and abrasion." --Impose Magazine "combines mournful jangle pop of lead singer Sandra Vu’s other group Dum Dum Girls’ with some dance-ready goth-pop."--CMJ

INCOMING: Dirty Beaches at Empty Bottle 9/12 & Beacon at Bottom Lounge 9/18

Two incredible acts, Beacon and Dirty Beaches, are coming through Chicago this fall and they're rumored to be some serious standouts for the season.   So check 'em out live while you can.

With a Best New Music on Pitchfork for his outstanding new double record Drifters/Love Is The Devil, Dirty Beaches has again proven to be one of the most innovative and compelling artists today, and will be playing on Thursday, September 12th at Empty Bottle with a full band. Heard recently in an interview on NPR's All Things Considered, they call Alex Zhang Hungtai's compositions "washy, dreamy rock music that often feels nostalgic" while Pitchfork see it as "both sprawling and detailed, a sonic travelogue that takes the textural aspects of his work to impressionistic heights." In a recent interview with Stereogum, they write that the record is "equal parts beautiful, heartbreaking, and (occasionally) terrifying," an apt description for his fascinating new video for "Casino Lisboa."

Beacon and Shigeto will be co-headlining a fantastic tour this summer, playing Bottom Lounge on Wednesday, September 18th with support from Nightmoves. A Brooklyn-based male duo, Beacon released their debut album, The Ways We Separate, on Ghostly earlier this spring to much acclaim, with Pitchfork writing, "Mullarney's voice is light, but it's grounded with an earnestness that is strengthened with each new instrumental flourish." An intoxicating blend of R&B and electronic grooves, The Ways We Separate captures smooth, sensual rhythms and lays them atop silky vocals and deep basslines, coming together into what Exclaim call "one of the most compelling and authentic-sounding albums of the year." Having toured with How To Dress Well, Gold Panda and Matthew Dear, Beacon put on a stellar live show and are sure to impress alongside Shigeto's vivid, beat-heavy electronic sound.

DIRTY BEACHES Photo Credit: Anna Zelikova North American Tour Dates 2013 / 09.04.13 - Societe des Arts Technologiques - Montreal, QC # 09.05.13 - Church of Boston - Boston, MA #  09.06.13 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY # 09.08.13 - Rock & Roll Hotel - Washington, DC # 09.09.13 - Johnny Brenda's - Philadelphia, PA # 09.11.13 - The Garrison - Toronto, ON #  09.12.13 - Empty Bottle - Chicago, IL # 09.13.13 - Firebird - St. Louis, MO #  09.14.13 - Exit In - Nashville, TN #  09.15.13 - Bottletree - Birmingham, AL #  09.17.13 - The Mohawk - Austin, TX #  09.19.13 - Rhythm Room - Phoenix, AZ #  09.20.13 - Echo - Los Angeles, CA # %  09.21.13 - The Void - San Diego, CA # %  09.22.13 - Bottom of the Hill - San Francisco, CA # % 09.24.13 - Mississippi Studios - Portland, OR # % 09.25.13 - Barboza - Seattle, WA # %  09.26.13 - Biltmore Cabaret - Vancouver, BC # %  * with Heathered Pearls, Xray Eyeballs  ^ with Heathered Pearls & Eola (collaboration), Porcelain Raft, Andy Boay  # with Sisu % with Chasms Alex Zhang Hungtai, AKA Dirty Beaches, started off as a one man band in 2005 in Montreal. A trans-pacific nomad and genre hopping sound smith, his past releases include drone instrumentals, film scores and a fascination with dissecting popular american music like blues, rockabilly, soul, RNB, and hip hop, often rendering them to the point where its no longer recognizable. His latest release, Drifters/Love Is The Devil, is a double LP that chronicles the musician's life on the road over the past 2 years, as we follow him down the rabbit hole through the labyrinths of Berlin, Belgrade, Paris, and many other cities through heartbreak, rebirth and masochistic existential self reflection. Recorded between Montreal and Berlin in the winter of 2012, the double LP is separated only by aesthetics, as they are tightly woven together thematically as one conceptual piece. If 2011's Badlands was an exercise in exorcising past ghosts in a semi-fictional world, then Drifters/Love Is The Devil is a reflection on the fragility of reality. One, of the surface world in which he explores the night life of bright neon temptations dwelling in hedonistic irresponsible values, and the other of the inner world, one of remorse and lovelorn tragedies. As stated by the artist himself, "the most honest piece of music I've ever written." Drifters/Love Is The Devil is out now on ZOO MUSIC. "Drifters/Love is the Devil is a pair of poignant records. Hungtai’s ideas swing rapidly from beautiful to chaotic to completely atonal...Fortunately, Hungtai has let us into his world, no matter what darkness we might find there." Consequence of Sound "The gloomy and beautiful tracks on Love is the Devil may be pointing a way forward for Dirty Beaches, they may have been conceived as a spiritual complement to Drifters, or they may just be a temporary detour; whatever their intent though, their presence is a welcome addition to the Dirty Beaches catalog." Paste Links / Dirty Beaches on Facebook Dirty Beaches on Twitter Dirty Beaches Official Website ZOO MUSIC Drifters Tracklisting / 01. Night Walk 02. I Dream In Neon 03. Belgrade 04. Casino Lisboa 05. ELLI 06. Aurevoir Mon Visage 07. Mirage Hall 08. Landscapes In The Mist  Love Is The Devil Tracklisting / 01. Greyhound At Night 02. This Is Not My City 03. Woman 04. Love Is The Devil 05. Alone At The Danube River 06. I Don't Know How To Find My Way Back To You 07. Like The Ocean We Part 08. Berlin  Quotes / "Both sprawling and detailed, a sonic travelogue that takes the textural aspects of his work to impressionistic heights." Pitchfork "Washy, dreamy rock music that often feels nostalgic." NPR "Ambitious new double album, Drifters/Love Is The Devil, stylishly reflects the dislocation of the road more traveled, hovering on the edge of dread...the oblique confessionals and elegiac atmosphere belie a certain cinematic grandeur." Interview Magazine "A double album steeped in grainy nostalgia that ventures further into the heart of film noir...an Oscar-worthy soundtrack waiting to happen." NYLON "Drifters sees Hungtai dabble in spartan post-punk, rickety industrial and devil-at-the-crossroads blues. Love Is The Devil, meanwhile, is an instrumental song-suite, alternately redolent of Angelo Badalamenti and Forest Swords." FACT "This double album is really good, and Alex Zhang Hungtai rules." VICE "It's a demanding, damn good and rewarding listen, one that squeezes your heart and head through shaking fingers." Filter "Laying down a rattling, distortion-heavy foundation while the man spits semi-intelligible venom from a mouth that seems caught in a permanent rockabilly sneer. There are echoes of both Tonetta and Brian Eno, with hints of the utter nothing that awaits us at the end of this crushing existence." SPIN

BEACON

Photo Credit: Will Calcutt

Press / "Mullarney’s voice is light, but it's grounded with an earnestness that is strengthened with each new instrumental flourish." Pitchfork "Massagingly minimal R&B." FADER "Mullarney’s slight tenor neatly fits Gossett’s knack for electronic groove." Consequence of Sound "Beacon manage to craft one of the most compelling and authentic-sounding albums of the year." Exclaim! "They fuse the deceptively sweet melodies of R&B with an intoxicating undercurrent of darkness." KEXP Co-Headlining Fall 2013 Tour with Shigeto / 08.29.13 - Brighton Music Hall - Boston, MA * 08.30.13 - Johnny Brenda’s - Philadelphia, PA * 08.31.13 - Bowery Ballroom - New York, NY * 09.03.13 - Brillobox - Pittsburgh, PA *  09.04.13 - U Street Music Hall - Washington, DC * 09.05.13 - Asheville Music Hall - Asheville, NC * 09.06.13 - NV - Knoxville, TN *  09.07.13 - Cosmic Charlie’s - Lexington, KY * 09.08.13 - Zanzabar - Louisville, KY *  09.10.31 - Mahall’s - Lakewood, OH *  09.11.13 - Bug Jar - Rochester, NY *  09.12.13 - Le Belmont - Montreal, QC *  09.13.13 - The Garrison - Toronto, ON *  09.14.13 - Laneway Festival - Rochester Hills, MI !  09.18.13 - Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL #  09.19.13 - Miramar Theatre - Milwaukee, WI #  09.20.13 - The Frequency - Madison, WI #  09.21.13 - 7th Street Entry - Minneapolis, MN #  09.22.13 - Bourbon Theatre - Lincoln, NE #  09.23.13 - Larimer Lounge - Denver, CO #  09.25.13 - Kilby Court - Salt Lake City, UT #  09.27.13 - Decibel Festival (The Crocodile) - Seattle, WA @  09.28.13 - Electric Owl - Vancouver, BC # %  09.29.13 - Holocene - Portland, OR # %  10.02.13 - The Jambalaya - Arcata, CA #  10.03.13 - The Independent - San Francisco, CA #  10.04.13 - Echoplex - Los Angeles, CA #  10.05.13 - Casbah - San Diego, CA # % * with Heathered Pearls  ! with Matthew Dear, ADULT., Heathered Pearls  # with Nitemoves  @ with Lusine,  Dauwd,  Nitemoves  % with Phaeleh The Ways We Separate Tracklisting / 01. Bring You Back 02. Feeling's Gone 03. Between The Waves 04. Drive 05. Overseer 06. Late November 07. Studio Audience  08. Headlights 09. Anthem 10. Split In Two Thomas Mullarney and Jacob Gossett, aka Brooklyn duo Beacon, introduced themselves to the world with the No Body and For Now EPs, both released last year on Ghostly International. The EPs were united by minimalist, R&B-influenced instrumentation, and also by a lyrical theme, with both serving as meditations on the darkness that underpins the most intense of human emotions: love. The duo's debut album The Ways We Separate both consolidates and develops these ideas. The album focuses, as the title suggests, on the idea of separation — both within the context of relationships and in a more intimate, psychological sense. As Mullarney explains, "The narrative contained inside The Ways We Separate deals with two kinds of separation: one where two entities grow apart, and the other where we grow apart from ourselves. Over the course of a relationship, the two sometimes happen together, one being the result of the other." Desires, passions and regrets are central to the songs on The Ways We Separate, which take a variety of perspectives to construct a nuanced reflection on the album's central theme. 'Between the Waves' draws a clever analogy between relationships and soundwaves falling out of phase: "I know all the ways we separate/ Where we start to fade at different frequencies." 'Overseer' catalogues a parting of the ways with discomfiting clarity: "Isn't it fine?/ Taking it slow?/ Watching you watch me walk out your door." And album closer 'Split in Two' explores how the extremes of love and loss can take you far away from being the person you thought you were, making explicit the connection between the two ideas of separation: "What I'd do for you?", sings Thomas Mullarney, "Split myself in half/ Divided into two." Musically, The Ways We Separate finds Beacon working with a richer sonic palette than ever before —as Gossett says, "The production on this album is much more expansive than anything thing we’ve done thus far. We spent a lot of time exploring new gear and experimenting with how to pull a wide range of sound out of various instruments. Some of the key sonics that shaped this LP are analogue synthesis, lots of heavily processed guitar work, and vocal layering/processing." While the abiding mood remains that of late-night introspection, the production draws from elements of hip hop and a wide gamut of electronic music, marrying intricate beats and subtle textures to honeyed pop melodies that belie the album's conceptual depth. Rarely has bleakness sounded so pretty — this is a record that's deceptively, compellingly beautiful, an exploration of a place both discomfiting and darkly seductive. Links / Beacon Official Tumblr Beacon Official Bandcamp Beacon Official Facebook Follow Beacon On Twitter Ghostly International