Artwork by Greedy Hen

SHARON VAN ETTEN TOUR DATES:

FALLS FESTIVAL, LORNE: SATURDAY DECEMBER 29. Sold out!
THE CORNER, MELBOURNE: SUNDAY DECEMBER 30 with special guests Grand Salvo. Tickets on sale now from The Corner box office.
FALLS FESTIVAL, MARION BAY: MONDAY DECEMBER 31. Tickets on sale now from The Falls website.
THE ZOO, BRISBANE JANUARY 2: WEDNESDAY JANUARY 2 with special guests Little Scout + Heather Woods Broderick. Tickets on sale now from The Zoo & all Oztix outlets.
SOUTHBOUND, BUSSELTON WA: FRIDAY JANUARY 4. Tickets on sale now from the festival website.
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: SUNDAY JANUARY 6 @ The Famous Spiegeltent. Starts 5pm. Tickets on sale Monday, October 29 from Ticketmaster.
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: TUESDAY JANUARY 8 @ The Famous Spiegeltent. Starts 7pm. Tickets on sale Monday, October 29 from Ticketmaster.
SYDNEY FESTIVAL: WEDNESDAY JANUARY 9 @ The Famous Spiegeltent. Starts 7pm. Tickets on sale Monday, October 29 from Ticketmaster.

Mistletone, Triple R, 4ZZZ and Beat present the first Australian tour by Brooklyn-based Sharon Van Etten. Singer, songwriter, collaborator and incredibly captivating performer, the irrepressible Sharon Van Etten is nothing short of indie rock royalty. Backed by her stunning three piece band, Sharon will showcase her bittersweet songs with all their raw intimacy and dramatic sweep at The Corner (Melbourne) on Sunday 30 December and The Zoo (Brisbane) on Wednesday 2 January, as well as festival shows at Falls Festival, Southbound Festival and in The Famous Spiegeltent at Sydney Festival.

As a special treat for Brisbane audiences, Heather Woods Broderick from Sharon’s band will perform an opening solo set at The Zoo. Heather Woods Broderick (pictured below) is a disarming and resonant musician and composer who has released solo material under her own name and as a member of Efterklang, Horse Feathers and Loch Lomond; she’s been part of Laura Gibson’s backing band and has recorded with the likes of Blitzen Trapper and M Ward. Growing up in the relative quiet of the Maine countryside while learning a range of instruments and being sung to sleep by her parents playing folk songs, natural and rural sounds became central to Heather’s sense of song, falling into a deeply personal realm. The subtlety and nuance in Heather’s music also comes from her inclination towards ambient and experimental sounds, conjuring atmosphere equally with the striking melodies at the core of her songs. Her solo album From The Ground (featuring Heather’s brother, Peter Broderick) was released on Sydney-based label, Preservation. She also makes a guest appearance on Slay Me In My Sleep, the sixth album from Melbourne’s Grand Salvo.

SHARON VAN ETTEN

Sharon Van Etten’s debut album Because I Was In Love came in 2009, accompanied by the sound of critics fawning the world over. Follow up Epic (2010) and this year’s Tramp (released locally through Inertia Music) have only solidified her reputation. Produced by The National’s Aaron Dessner, Tramp features guest appearances by Zach Condon (aka Beirut), Bryce Dessner (also of The National), Julianna Barwick and Jenn Wasner of Wye Oak, proving that the best and brightest of American indie rock are lining up to get their prints on a Sharon Van Etten record. In three short years, she has played The Hollywood Bowl with Neko Case; at Radio City Music Hall with The Antlers; sung on records by Beirut and Ed Askew; and collaborated with Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and Megafaun on the Songs Of The South project.

Tramp has been called “sublime” by MOJO and “Americana’s best-kept secret… one of the must-hears of 2012” by The Guardian. Just as assured and compelling live, Sharon delivers both power and charm in spades – so make sure you’re there with us this summer, when she brings her magic to our shores.

• “I love Shazza. From the first time I saw her at SXSW earlier this year I was a goner. Sharon Van Etten has a way to cut right through to your heart; those harmonies, her painfully honest lyrics, and songwriting smarts that make you just want to see, and hear her over and over.” – Zan Rowe, triple j
  
• “Focusing mostly on new material, Sharon Van Etten’s syrupy pipes filled the room just like you’d expect them to. Her impeccable, folk-spun melodies were executed with precision and passion. The thing that’s so incredible about Van Etten, is how she’s able to meld harsh and gentle together so seamlessly. At its core, her music is angry, but a gentle approach to that anger yields undeniably gorgeous results. Her lyrics are bitterly heartbreaking, her strums occasionally crass, her energy genuinely raw and powerful. But there’s a sort of delicate beauty to it all.” – Consequence of Sound
• “Sharon Van Etten is possessed of a remarkable, arresting voice. Emotive without being naïve, Sharon’s music, like her personality, is wise beyond its years. Her songs strike a balance between American and English folk and rock music, and her down-to-earth approach is refreshing after the onslaught of ethereal folkies in the last decade. More Anne Briggs than Vashti Bunyan, Van Etten’s extraordinary talents bode well for our ears.” – Pitchfork
• “One of the best confessional singer-songwriters around… A true star” – Washington Post

L-R: Zeke Hutchins, Heather Woods Broderick, Sharon Van Etten, Doug Keith. Photo by Dusdin Condren.

Watch Sharon performing at Le Point Ephémère, Paris:

Sharon Van Etten – Give Out live in Paris at Le Point FMR from valerie toumayan / I Love Sweden on Vimeo.

Sharon Van Etten – Don’t Do It live in Paris at Le Point FMR from valerie toumayan / I Love Sweden on Vimeo.

Sharon Van Etten – Magic Chords live in Paris at Le Point FMR from valerie toumayan / I Love Sweden on Vimeo.

Mistletone is delighted to announce that Beach House (aka Victoria Legrand and Alex Scally) will perform at this year’s Falls and Southbound Festivals, as well as a number of city shows to be announced later in the year.

Bloom has been met with rave reviews since its release in May, and is widely acknowledged to be a frontrunner for album of the year. Beach House have been touring Europe and USA since the album release, as well as appearing on Jools Holland and David Letterman. The band’s live show recreates the landscapes first imagined in their studio albums and is nothing less than a treat.

Bloom is out now on Mistletone / Inertia in CD, vinyl and digital formats with a few very limited t-shirt bundles remaining on Mistletone mail order.

Watch the film clip for Lazuli here:

BEACH HOUSE TOUR DATES:

Friday 28 December – Tuesday 1 January: Falls Festival, Lorne (VIC). Ticket ballot now open.
Saturday 29 December – Tuesday 1 January: Falls Festival, Marion Bay (TAS). Ticket ballot now open.
Friday 4 January – Saturday 5 January: Southbound Festival, Busselton (WA). Ticketing info soon to come.

… + city shows to be announced!

Photo by Shawn Brackbill

Mistletone warmly welcomes TEEN to our family. Their new album In Limbo is out now on Mistletone / Inertia. TEEN features Teeny Lieberson, formerly of Here We Go Magic. Check out Better from the album on the Mistletone Soundcloud.

In all ways, TEEN is a mix of beauty and grit. Raw songwriting meets droning keyboards and guitar, primal drumming, and swirling vocals to produce atmospheric, haunting songs set in genre-defying arrangements. Bringing together a multitude of influences in unexpected ways,TEEN is at once nostalgic and refreshingly original.

TEEN came together when Brooklyn’s Teeny Lieberson, formerly of Here We Go Magic, left her post in the latter band in order to make music with her sisters Katherine and Lizzie and their longtime friend Jane Herships. Forgoing girl-group gimmickry and fervor, the band’s digital-only debut EP Little Doods fleshed out a sound of languid, lo-fi psyche pop redolent of Paisley Underground bands like Opal and Rain Parade. Since releasing the EP in April 2011, they have steadily honed their sound around New York and readied their first long-player, In Limbo.

Recorded during the summer of 2011 in a converted barn in rural Connecticut, In Limbo puts pop and tribal elements to the fore. Opener “Better” is a Suicide-esque march toward euphoria through repetition. “Sleep in Noise” comes on like a neo-psychedelic tribal stomp with a Spector-esque drive, while “Unable,” an all-but-shapeless mass of organ swells and tremolo synths provides a loose structure for their transcendent vocal acrobatics. The density and layers of the band’s morphing keyboards, driving synths and jungle drums let their finely arranged vocals sit gloriously on top, each member’s contribution shining through.

In Limbo was mixed and produced in collaboration with Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Spectrum). His influence & guidance is subtly evident throughout, adding sympathetic undertones and ambience to the band’s well defined and inspiring songs.

 
Video for Electric (below) directed by Sam Fleischner (award winning LA filmmaker who’s made clips for Panda Bear, MGMT and Santigold, among others) and choreographer/dance performance/dance artist Megha Barnabas.

Video for Better (below) shot in and around NYC summertime, directed by TEEN & friends, edited by Janis Vogel.

Promo Photo by Liz Flyntz.

Beach House‘s lush new album Bloom is out now, and has been garnering exquisite praise here in Oz and the world over.

We have a very limited number of T-shirt/LP and T-shirt CD bundles available on mail order; head here to grab one, they won’t be around much longer!

• “Bloom lives up to all expectations, coming in grand waves of organ drone, guitar wash, muffled percussion and Legrand’s full-blooded voice” – THE AGE (4.5 stars)
• “This is a release that creeps under your skin and stays there; beautifully dense and seriously captivating” – triple j (Feature Album)
• ALBUM OF THE WEEK – FBi Radio, 2SER, RTR
• “Functioning as a novel rather than a collection of short stories, Bloom is the lovesongs-and-dedications template for those with 20/40 vision” – DAILY TELEGRAPH (4 stars)
• “Lullaby cadences, guitar mirages, low, stalwart organs and bass; melodic tensions and sweeping release, emotions amplified by the methodical pace at which they’re unfurled” – THE BRAG (Album of the Week – 4 stars)
• “The most delightfully satisfying expression of their music yet, and could well be dream pop’s new definitive gesture” – BEAT (Album of the Week – 4 stars)
• “Beach House have an indefinable something that makes their music rise above their humble set-up to transcendent heights”- THE BIG ISSUE – 4 stars
• “Perfectly moody, shimmering pop… Bloom is proof that the hype about the band last year was well deserved” – ROLLING STONE AUSTRALIA (4 stars)
• “Bloom is inspiring, and what it delivers is stunning, musical genius” – MUSIC FEEDS
• “An intrepid slow burn of shimmering synths, guitars and melancholy vocals. Sounds like the musical incarnation of a Sofia Coppola film” – YEN MAGAZINE
• “Another step closer to perfection” – DRUM MEDIA (Album of the Week)
• “By just about every measure, Bloom‘s wingspan is fuller than anything Beach House have done before” – PITCHFORK (Best New Music, 9.1 score)

Watch Beach House perform Lazuli on Later… with Jools Holland:

“A forceful, overwhelming reminder of the world Beach House discovered on 2010’s Teen Dream, one that hovers in the air, glowing and benevolent, like a giant Rothko painting. It’s gratifying just to be near it.”  – PITCHFORK BEST NEW MUSIC (Best New Track – Myth and Lazuli)

We are super excited to reveal Lazuli, the A-side to the limited 7″ single from Beach House, on beautiful blue opaque vinyl; B-side is the previously unheard b-side Equal Mind. Listen to the digital version above and buy the vinyl on Saturday, only from your local INDEPENDENT record store heroes. Record Store Day forever!

“Daughn Gibson’s debut album is a rare hybrid of experimental pop and traditional Americana. With a resonant vocal style, Daughn crafts concise narratives with memorable melodies. Musically All Hell draws upon shadowy country rock and southern gothic elements, and interpolates them into spacious, minimalist electronic arrangements. Lee Hazelwood and Burial, Nick Cave and Nicholas Jaar, are equally applicable reference points for the album’s surprising, and engaging sound.” – 3RRR ALBUM OF THE WEEK

“Daughn Gibson has a thing for old cowboy music– the kind that you find on musty, old shellac vinyl in thrift shops. He largely built his solo debut, All Hell, out of those records’ bits and parts: imagine James Blake in a ten-gallon cowboy hat, or J Dilla working out a serious Glenn Miller jones, and you might be floating somewhere near the stylized little Americana snow-globe that Gibson is gently shaking on All Hell. “Tiffany Lou” is one of the album’s strongest tracks, a song that’s made up of a pitched-down, highly medicated-sounding vocal loop, harmonizing tiredly with itself. Over this unsettling backdrop, Daughn spins a song about the exact kind of no-hope characters these songs are supposed to be about, telling an compelling and inscrutable little tale even as his words are slurred to near-unintelligibility.” – PITCHFORK BEST NEW MUSIC

“Daughn Gibson is quite unlike anyone you will have ever heard, unless you happen to have decided, on a whim one day, to set up two stereos and have playing on one a series of country songs or noir torch ballads and, on the other, some creepy, crepuscular dubstep. Simultaneously. That’s what it’s like listening to this 31-year-old who used to be a truck driver and still works as an HR rep for a trucking company. Like hearing Nick Cave’s Murder Ballads and Burial’s Untrue. Simultaneously.” – THE GUARDIAN

Download: “In The Beginning” from Mistletone Soundcloud

Imagine if Nicolas Jaar edited together a cocaine-country album, with a crooner somewhere between Lee Hazelwood and Roy Orbison on the mic. You know how James Blake brought R&B into the post-techno age? That’s what Daughn Gibson is fixing to do with country.

Shades of Arthur Russell, Scott Walker, Magnetic Fields and Matthew Dear might pop up here or there, but this is a work unlike any other.

Daughn Gibson’s debut album All Hell is one of the catchiest, most infectious Mistletone releases to date; a spooky, atmospheric slice of electronically enhanced backwoods creepiness. Surrounded by echoed electric guitar, sinister rhythm patterns, and cutting synth, Daughn unfurls his unsettling, elliptical tales in a gritty baritone.

Released on vinyl only in the US by White Denim (excellent indie label run out of Philadelphia by Matthew K of Pissed Jeans), All Hell will be released in Australia & New Zealand on CD, vinyl and digital by Mistletone Records through Inertia Music on May 4th.

Pitchfork Rising Feature:

Bloom is the fourth full-length album by Baltimore-based Beach House. It builds on Teen Dream (Mistletone, 2010) to further develop their distinctive sound yet stands apart as a new piece of work. Bloom is meant to be experienced as an ALBUM, a singular, unified vision of the world.

Though not stripped down, the many layers of Bloom are uncomplicated and meticulously constructed to ensure there is no waste. Bloom was recorded in 2011 at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas and mixed at Electric Lady in NYC. The band co-produced the record with Chris Coady.

Beach House fans can now pre-order Bloom from iTunes Australia and get a download of the song Myth instantly, here

Mail order buds who pre-order Bloom on vinyl or CD from the Mistlemart mail order service will score a limited edition t-shirt (modelled above by Ash). The tshirts are charcoal coloured, soft poly cotton marble, vintage style, comfy tees in girls & boys sizes, and limited to 50 only!

Pre-order mail order bundles are $40 for t-shirt + CD, or $50 for t-shirt + LP, including postage within Australia. We’ll ship on the release date, May 14th. First come, first served!

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Following the exciting announcement that Bloom, the new record from Beach House, will be out May 14 on Mistletone/Inertia on CD, double deluxe vinyl & digital, the band has now revealed the album’s cover image (above).

We are also delighted to announce a new Beach House 7″ single, “Lazuli” b/w “Equal Mind”, to be released on Mistletone/Inertia on Record Store Day (April 21).  The limited edition 7″ release comes on blue vinyl, and its A-side is from Bloom.

Mistletone is overjoyed to share the details of Beach House’s fourth studio album Bloom, out May 14 on Mistletone Records via Inertia.   The album will be released internationally via Sup Pop (USA), Bella Union (UK/Europe) and Arts and Crafts (Mexico).

You can download the lead single Myth here:

Bloom was recorded in late 2011 at Sonic Ranch Studios in Tornillo, Texas and mixed at Electric Lady in NYC. Bloom was co-produced by Beach House and Chris Coady.

The landscape of Bloom was largely designed on the road, between the countless sound checks and myriad experiences during two years of tour. Throughout this period, melodies, chords, rhythms, words, and textures surfaced in moments of their own choosing. These spontaneous ideas were later gathered and developed in Baltimore, where the band lives and works.  Read more here.

Like previous Beach House releases (Beach House in 2006, Devotion in 2008, Teen Dream in 2010, all released locally on Mistletone), Bloom further develops their distinctive sound, yet stands apart as a new piece of work.

Beach House – Bloom Tracklist

1. Myth

2. Wild

3. Lazuli

4. Other People

5. The Hours

6. Troublemaker

7. New Year

8. Wishes

9. On the Sea

10.Irene

In super exciting news just to hand, we are utterly amped to announce that Geneva Jacuzzi is joining the Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Australian tour next month. Tour dates below!

Geneva Jacuzzi (born Geneva Garvin) is an LA-based songwriter, musician and visual artist who is known for her unique style of synth driven bedroom pop recordings, theatrical stage personas and retro style video art. Her lyrics describe blood being thrown onto fire, clown-like machines in search of sadness and the raging monologues of future/past elemental beings. Her live shows are unlike anything you will ever experience.

Her incredible videos portray the story of a once abundant Self being shattered into a variety of other personas such as Dracula, Mime, Zygote and Rozbo — all being played by Jacuzzi, and all cannibalising/commodifying their rape revenge upon the idea of an original Self which is now lost if not mythical, somewhere in the Islands of the Jacuzzi.

While her live shows reference commedia dell’arte, Cocteau, Artaud, Schlemmer, dada, kabuki, French surrealism and Italian futurism, they remain song performance primarily, but they are also starkly expressionistic mini-dramas that seem to have plots allowing Jacuzzi to find her way dramatically into those places between art, music and theatre.

Initially, Jacuzzi formed a number of mysterious and fleeting bands (Hot Pajamas, Sex Carpet, etc) alongside collaborations with Haunted Graffiti, Vibe Central, Obelisk and Super Creep. Then from 2004-2007, she fronted the band The Bubonic Plague, an influential cult favorite in LA’s Echo Park district.

By 2010, she debuted her first album Lamaze on Vinyl International, a collection of songs taken from previous unofficial releases. All the Jacuzzi/Bubonic Plague recordings were written, played and produced by Geneva herself, using an 8-track cassette tape recorder. Her archive of music consists of over 400 songs, most of which have never been released.

In 2011, Jacuzzi began her latest project Dark Ages, which pulls together most of her past and present work into an epic art video odyssey.  Functioning as a play, Part I was presented in the form of a music video montage and Vice Magazine editorial takeover. Her latest installation at the LOT gallery in Louisville, titled “Dracula’s Diorama, Through the Doorwall Part VI, Act I ” featuring an actual fishtank and video was sold through the gallery, as well as many other handmade collage pieces sold at either galleries or venues across the globe.

ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI TOUR DATES ( # with Geneva Jacuzzi)

# SYDNEY: Friday March 2 @ Oxford Art Factory with special guests Geneva Jacuzzi, Richard In Your Mind + Erik Omen. Tickets on sale now from Moshtix.

PLAYGROUND WEEKENDER: Saturday March 3 @ Del Rio Riverside Resort, Wisemans Ferry. Tickets on sale now.

# MELBOURNE: Sunday March 4 @ Corner Hotel with special guests Geneva Jacuzzi, Lost Animal + Montero. Tickets on sale now from the venue.

BRISBANE: Thursday March 8 @ The Zoo with special guests Dune Rats + Magic Spells. Tickets on sale now from the venue. Presented by Mistletone and Happy End-ings.

MEREDITH, VIC: Saturday March 10: Golden Plains Festival, Victoria. Golden Plains ticket info here.

# ADELAIDE: Sunday March 11: Adelaide Festival with special guest Geneva Jacuzzi. Tickets on sale now from BASS ONLINE or phone: 131 246.