Mistletone

Artwork by Gloz

Mistletone and 3RRR proudly present Mirah on her first ever Australian tour.

A dearly treasured artist of indie folk devotees, Mirah will tour Australia as a trio, accompanied by multi-instrumentalist Dave Depper (Norfolk & Western, Jolie Holland) and acclaimed Portland artist Rachel Blumberg, who has drummed for The Decemberists, Bright Eyes and M. Ward.

A live performer of great intelligence and warmth, Mirah has a posse of obsessed fans thanks to her hugely acclaimed albums on respected Pacific Northwest label K Records including C’mon Miracle, Advisory Committee, You Think It’s Like This but Really It’s Like This, Joyride: Remixes and last year’s gorgeous (a)spera.

Don’t miss the long awaited chance to hear this prodigiously talented and endlessly creative lady breathe life into her resonant songs of love, loss and magic.

To quote triple j’s Zan Rowe: “One of my favourite songwriters, Mirah hails from that goldmine of good music, the Pacific North-west of the United States. A lot of creative types come from these shores… there must be something in the water. For years Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn has been making intensely personal, sweet, and musically adventurous songs. Sometimes folk, sometimes gypsy, sometimes electronic, sometimes noise. She rarely repeats herself and always hits that place in your chest where it just kills you to listen to her stories.”

MIRAH TOUR DATES
+ special guests The Smallgoods

SYDNEY THURSDAY 21 OCTOBER @ RED RATTLER w/- The Smallgoods + Shiver Like Timber.
Playing times: Doors 8pm, Shiver Like Timber 8.30pm, The Smallgoods 9.20pm, Mirah 10.30pm.

BRISBANE FRIDAY 22 OCTOBER @ LOFLY HANGAR w/- The Smallgoods + Epithets + Moses Gunn Collective. Presales now closed – tickets $40 at the door.
Playing times: Doors 7.30pm, Moses Gunn Collective 8.30pm, Epithets 9.15pm, The Smallgoods 10.15pm, Mirah 11.15pm.

MELBOURNE SATURDAY 23 OCTOBER @ NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB w/- The Smallgoods + Wintercoats. Tickets from the venue.
Playing times: Doors 8.30pm, Wintercoats 9pm, The Smallgoods 10.10pm, Mirah 11.20pm.

SUNDAY 24 OCTOBER @ NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB w/ The Ancients + MSG (Mia Schoen Group). Tickets on sale from the venue.
Playing times: Doors 7.30pm, Mia Schoen 8pm, The Ancients 9pm, Mirah 10pm.

Mirah (full name Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn) has won legions of devoted fans around the world with her striking lyrical poise and unabashed emotional honesty. She has released five albums on K Records which are revered as classics in the indie folk music canon, expanding the boundaries of ‘indie-rock’ towards a more meaningful, communicative goal.

Mirah has collaborated extensively with artists such as the Black Cat Orchestra, singer-songwriter Phil Elverum of The Microphones/Mt. Eerie and Brooklyn-based artist and musician Ginger Brooks Takahashi. She followed up her early recordings with a collection of cover songs, To All We Stretch the Open Arm, an anti-war statement which included renditions of Leonard Cohen’s Story of Isaac and Kurt Weill’s What Keeps Mankind Alive.

Mirah’s third solo album C’mon Miracle (2004) combined the ever-present youthful splendor of her earlier works with a more mature stylistic component, which led many critics to hail it as her best work to date. Several other projects followed: a sonic expedition, Joyride: Remixes featuring dance remixes of Mirah’s solo work by artists such as Jona Bechtolt (Yacht), a collaboration with Spectratone International, Share This Place: Stories and Observations which became a multi-media performance featuring stop motion animation by Britta Johnson and 12 songs based in part on the writings of the influential French scientist/poet Jean Henri Fabre.

Last year Mirah unveiled her latest full length solo album, (a)spera (distributed locally by Inertia) which mixed her trademark lyrical sincerity with innovative instrumentation, featuring members of The Decemberists and engineered by M Ward and Sufjan Stevens’ producers. It won huge critical acclaim worldwide with a Metacritic rating of 82 out of 100, and locally won triple j rotation as well as constant airplay on FBi, 2SER and other community radio around the country.

Paste magazine review:

Northwest chanteuse gets gentle, elemental

If there is a Mother Earth, it may as well be Olympia, Washington’s Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn, who coos coyly and with care, who has been championed by those preservationists of primitive innocence, who has reveled in understated arrangements of her girlish wisdom, and who has now, on (a)spera, sung out a sweet and transcendent lament for the natural world with all its inhabitants. Opener “Generosity” reveals the songstress alternating between the perspective of bountiful nature (“I’ve given you all of my energy) and a grieving human who realizes too late all that has been taken and can’t be replaced (“these clouds we’ve made cannot make rain”). It’s a Giving Tree scenario, spun out with strings and a subdued power-ballad build, and it sets the stage for the worldly decay catalogued throughout (a)spera with the help of several gifted collaborators, including Kane Mathis (who provides gorgeous baroque kora work in “Shells”) and Bryce Panic (who creates the serene kalimba base for winding closer “While We Have the Sun”). Mirah’s position here isn’t so much that of a hectoring, pragmatic environmentalist; rather, with broader thoughts, wide eyes and open heart, she asks in “The World Is Falling Apart”: “Why were you not built for wonder? / Why will you never get enough?” They’re queries convincingly put forth in a voice like Mirah’s—slicked with sap and curled like a cat’s tail—floating above arrangements like those of (a)spera: burnt, flowing, cooled and whispered, like the elements of our earth.

Hello everyone!

We’ve just had six weeks following the sun, hanging with elephant seals, sea otters, rattlesnakes, chipmunks and drain kitties, but our feet are firmly plonked back in frosty Melbourne and we have a plethora of good musical happenings awaiting. So here is the latest in the world of team Mistletone…….

MISTLEMART NINJA MAIL ORDER SALE
For a limited time we are slashing the prices of our catalogue. Oh my! Also, for the first time ever, we’ve put some of our tour posters up on the mail order catalogue. CD prices start at $5 and postage is free anywhere in Australia. It’s the perfect time of year to curl up with a new album, so if there are any titles in our catalogue that you have been meaning to check out, now is the time to pick up a Mistletone release or four. Go to ye olde Mistlemart and shop ’til you drop.

PANDA BEAR SINGLE
Tomboy b/w Slow Motion is the new single for Animal Collective’s Panda Bear. This will be the first taste off his upcoming Tomboy album, which Mistletone is chuffed to be releasing in this part of the world. We have a very few copies of the Tomboy b/w Slow Motion 7″s to sell via our website; quantities are super limited, so be quick. Look out for Tomboy later in the year.

TORO Y MOI SINGLE
From Tuesday July 20 we will have a limited number of copies of Leave Everywhere/First Date, the new 7″ single from South Carolina’s one man bliss/pop phenomenon, Toro Y Moi. These new summer jams will surprise those of you familiar with Toro Y Moi’s debut album Causers Of This. You’ll find no electronic sounds or beats here.  These songs have a classic early rock n roll feel to them with only electric guitar, bass, drums, and xylophone(!) as the instrumentation. Yet one more facet of the Toro Y Moi sound (and there are more!), these tunes will prepare listeners for Toro Y Moi’s next full length, which will have yet another completely new vibe.

ROBERT SCOTT (THE BATS)
September 4 will see the release of Ends Run Together, the new solo album from Dunedin legend Robert Scott. We all love and know Bob from his work in The Bats and The Clean (not to mention countless side projects), and this new album will knock your socks off! Pop hooks and sonic explorations combine to make something very special. To celebrate the release of Ends Run Together, Melbourne folks can catch Bob doing a very special solo show at The Empress on Saturday September 4 with support from Mia Schoen, Aktion Unit and Scale Models. Tickets on sale now.

PRINCE RAMA
We’re psyched to welcome US three piece Prince Rama to the Mistletone family. We were lucky enough to see these guys perform last month in NYC and our minds were gloriously blown. All three members of the band were raised on a Hare Krishna commune in Florida, educated at art school in Boston, and now making noise and living in Brooklyn. Their new album Shadow Temple (out September 11) is an epic shrine of swirling synths, pulsing guitars, and thunder drums. An ethereal chorus of voices and anthemic melodies create a reverb-washed mine of sonic artifacts drawing from southeast Asian rituals, krautrock legacies, chopped and screwed homages, hallucinatory operas, and dance hall psychedelia. Recorded in Kurt Vonnegut’s grandson’s cabin and a 135-year-old haunted church with the help of Rusty Santos and Animal Collective members Avey Tare and Deakin, Shadow Temple offers itself as a sincere porthole into a mysterious realm that defies material understanding.

KES TRIO
We are eternally in thrall of the music made by Karl E Scullin aka KES, and this is true more than ever of the very rad new Kes Trio album Black Brown Green Grey White (release date September 18). A stunning document of Kes Band’s current and undeniable incarnation as a trio (KES, Lehmann B. Smith and Julian Patterson), Black Brown Green Grey White is a yin-yang dichotomy of contemplative, melodic beauty and inward-gazing ballads juxtaposed with jerky dischord, banshee yells and whirlwind anti-rock riffs. Compelling, uncompromising and beautiful, Black Brown Green Grey White will surely hold you spellbound. The Melbourne launch of Black Brown Green Grey White will be at East Brunswick Club on Saturday, September 25. Melbourne folks should also check out the Two x Two photo exhibition currently showing at Abbotsford Convent’s C3 Contemporary Art Space. It’s an amazing collaboration between Karl Scullin and Lauren Bamford displaying their remarkable portraits of many familiar faces from Melbourne’s musical and creative communities. It closes this Sunday and it’s free entry so check it out if you can.

TOUR RUMOURS
Mirah, The Verlaines, Beach House and so many more that we can’t even whisper about right now, so look out for news about exciting tours galore this summer!

Thanks for reading & listening. Til next time!

♥ TEAM MISTLETONE

BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT EAST COAST TOUR

We’re getting incredibly excited about the arrival of Brightblack Morning Light to our shores in only a matter of weeks!

From the desert mountains of New Mexico, Brightblack Morning Light embraces the psychedelic moment with a cosmic blend of folk rock, spirit anthems and freak exploration. On the eve of Brightblack Morning Light’s first Australian tour, the band’s ever-mystic founder Nathan Shineywater has announced that this will be the last Brightblack Morning Light tour and the debut of his new musical identity, Berry Shadows.

Don’t miss Brightblack Morning Light with special guest, Rio En Medio.

BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT TOUR DATES:

SYDNEY: Wednesday, April 7 at Oxford Art Factory.  Tickets $35 + booking fee on sale now from Moshtix. Presented by Mistletone and 2SER.

MELBOURNE:  Thursday, April 8 at East Brunswick Club with special guest Oren Ambarchi. Tickets $35 + booking fee on sale now. Presented by Mistletone and 3RRR.

BRISBANE: Saturday, April 10 at The Troubadour with special guest Anonymeye. Tickets $35 + booking fee on sale now from Oztix. Presented by Mistletone, 4ZZZ and Rave magazine.

PERTH: Sunday, April 11 at Mojos with special guest Craig Mcelhinney. Tickets $40+bf thru Heatseeker. Doors open 5pm. Presented by Life is Noise and Cool Perth Nights.

RIO EN MEDIO (supporting Brightblack Morning Light)

Special guest at the Brightblack Morning Light shows will be Rio En Medio in her first Australian performances. Rio En Medio is the pseudonym of singer and baritone ukulelist Danielle Stech-Homsy.

Born in the high desert of New Mexico, Danielle began to record and perform her own compositions. Working independently and in secret, she created a collection of collage-like songs incorporating found sounds and electronic programming, lifting texts from disparate sources, and evoking traditional/folk song structure, themes and melodies. As chance would have it, a friend passed on the unique, hand-made record to Devendra Banhart who soon requested to release it on his label (Gnomonsong).

Since her debut release in early 2007, Danielle has performed and worked with artists such as Grizzly Bear, CocoRosie, Patrick Wolf and Vashti Bunyan. Her delicate, fragmented songs feature a sparse and haunting trio of baritone ukulele, subtly harmonized vocals and electronic or sampled soundscapes, evoking the spun poetry of ancient folk lullabies. One more compelling reason not to miss the Brightblack shows!

THE BATS – ANZAC WEEKEND TOUR

To celebrate ANZAC day, we’re thrilled to be bringing New Zealand pop royalty The Bats back to Australia.

The Bats are flagbearers for the legacy of the Dunedin/Flying Nun sound, yet their new music is vital and sparkling as ever. The band has never broken up and is touring in the original lineup of Robert Scott, Paul Kean, Kaye Woodward and Malcolm Grant. The Bats’ latest album The Guilty Office (now in its second pressing on Mistletone and available locally through Inertia) was deemed “as fine a collection of songs from the pen of Robert Scott as there ever was”, and last year’s shows won glowing reviews and adoring fans.

To celebrate the tour, Mistletone will be releasing The Bats’ excellent Don’t You Rise four-track EP in digital form. The Don’t You Rise EP gathers up four tunes from 1998 and 2003, helping to complete the discographical picture leading up to The Guilty Office. Featuring the electric violin on Alastair Galbraith (who last featured on The Bats’ Law of Things), That’s How You Found Me would fit in perfectly on any classic Bats album, and mesmerises with its folk-pop groove. You Don’t Belong is a moody gem, while Don’t You Rise‘s country-inflected strum is a live favourite. Face Inside The Sun rounds out the record in fine form, a mid-tempo sing-along that sounds straight off Daddy’s Highway. A pretty special EP then!

THE BATS TOUR DATES:

SYDNEY: Friday April 23 at Oxford Art Factory with special guests Richard In Your Mind + The Ghosts. Tickets on sale now from Moshtix.

BRISBANE: Saturday April 24 at The Troubadour with special guests Greg Brady & The Anchors & The Deadnotes (with The Legend!). Tickets on sale now from Oztix.

MELBOURNE: Sunday April 25 at East Brunswick Club with special guests Ross McLennan & The New World Sympathique + Milk Teddy + DJ Frankie Teardrop. Tickets on sale now.

THE CHILLS IN MELBOURNE AND SYDNEY!

Just as the nights have started to get a little chillier, comes the news that legendary New Zealand band The Chills are heading to Australia for the first time in 17 years, playing two shows only in Melbourne and Sydney!

One of the key proponents of the Flying Nun sound, The Chills have been much loved since the early 1980s for their charming, hook-laden guitar pop. Over the years there have been many lineups, the only constant member being founder and guitarist Martin Phillipps. For this tour The Chills will consist of Martin Phillipps, James Dickson, Erica Stichbury, Todd Knudson and Oli Wilson.

Having grown more iconic and relevant to indie pop as each year passes, there is huge anticipation for the return to Australia of The Chills and their Heavenly Pop Hits…

THE CHILLS TOUR DATES:

MELBOURNE: FRI MAY 14 @ East Brunswick Club, Melbourne w/- Guy Blackman + East Brunswick All Girls Choir, plus DJ RICK (The Twerps). SOLD OUT!

SYDNEY: SAT MAY 15 @ Oxford Art Factory w/ Songs Trio + DJ Berko. Tickets $35 + BF on sale now from Moshtix, ph. 1300 GET TIX.

TORO Y MOI – CAUSERS OF THIS – OUT NOW!

Columbia, South Carolina’s Chaz Bundick, a.k.a. Toro Y Moi (a made-up name, half spanish half french) gathers up the best musical elements from around the globe — R&B, Indie Rock, Electronic Dance and Psychedelica — and creates something-freaking-else!

Over the course of his first groundbreaking full length Causers Of This (out now on Mistletone with four bonus tracks), Toro Y Moi turns the aforementioned musics upside-down with his breathtakingly innovative approach. The incendiary power of Toro Y Moi’s funky synth and guitar play, pumping digital rhythms and gorgeously bright vocal harmonies makes for a formidable combination. A soon to be masterpiece of a currently unnamed genre!

Check out the sweet video for new single Talamak.

“A contender for best chilled-out electronica of 2010, Toro Y Moi’s Causers of This is a world-class debut” – CITYSEARCH

MY DISCO –  SUPER LIMITED YOUNG 12″

Mistletone proudly presents a limited edition (500 copies worldwide) of a cosmic new My Disco jam entitled YOUNG on magnificent 12″ vinyl.

YOUNG is a volatile, mindboggling excursion into the outer realms of My Disco’s dalliance with German minimalism, clocking in at 10:50. The B-side (duration 10:41) is a remix by Qua which warps the transmissions of YOUNG into sublime rhythmic frequencies. YOUNG was engineered and mixed by Scott Horscroft at Big Jesus Burger Studios, assisted by JP, and mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Service.

YOUNG 12″ vinyl is now available on mail order and in selected good record stores. The A-side, Young by My Disco, is now available on iTunes. The B-side (Qua remix) is exclusive to the vinyl edition. Be quick cos these babies won’t be around for much longer!

BEACH HOUSE – TEEN DREAM CD/DVD – OUT NOW!

Beach House fever has broken out since the release of their glorious third album Teen Dream in January.

Recorded by Chris Coady in a converted church in upstate New York, Teen Dream is the Beach House album that the world has been waiting for. This is what the critics have said…

• “Teen Dream is one of the finest, most individual albums I have listened to in the past 12 months” – THE WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN (four stars)
  
• “Beach House’s Teen Dream has an uncanny ability to tug at heart strings en masse… Finally, it seems, they’re daring to dream” – THE AGE
• “Teen Dream, the atmosphere-filled album by Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House, came out this week and has already been getting the kind of hype that Grizzly Bear-style indie-to-mainstream crossovers are made of…” – THE SUNDAY AGE
• “Beach House are far from resting on their dreamy little laurels on their third album, which has taken Animal Collective’s 2009 spot as ‘ridiculously early contender for Album of the Year’” – BEAT Album of the Week
• “A gorgeous listen that never fails to give you a gentle caress through the speakers – and quite often you’ll find the hairs on the back of your neck paying just as much attention” – HERALD SUN
• Album of the Week – 3RRR, FBi, 2SER and RTR plus Triple J Rotation
• Best New Music – PITCHFORK rating 9.0 out of 10
• “A huge leap forward” – MUSIC AUSTRALIA GUIDE **** four stars
• “Majestic, mournful dream-pop” – Q magazine **** four stars
• “Eeri e indie loveliness” – UNCUT  **** four stars
• 9 out of 10 – NME

Phwoar! And yes, Beach House will be touring Australia in the summer — that’s a promise!

KES TRIO NEW ALBUM

Currently taking Japan by storm, Melbourne’s Kes Trio are set to release their brilliant new album in July. Recorded at Head Gap studios by super producer Nao Anzai, Kes Trio features a set of songs that are both brutal and fragile. We reckon it just might be the greatest thing Kes has ever done. More info soon!

BEACHES IN THE USA!

Beaches are currently touring the US for the first time and making quite a splash. Check out these raveups from Pitchfork and The LA Times!

MISTLETONE’S RESIDENT NUTTER CD SALE!

For a limited time we have slashed the price of your favourite Mistletone rekkids with free shipping anywhere in the world. Check out the bargains at our interweb shop and be quick cos this madness is only temporary!

onelove,

ash & sophie

Artwork by Craig Easton

Mistletone proudly presents legendary New Zealand band The Chills in their first Australian tour since 1992, playing two shows only in Melbourne and Sydney!

One of the key proponents of the Flying Nun sound, The Chills have been much loved since the early 1980s for their charming, hook-laden guitar pop.

Over the years there have been many lineups, the only constant member being founder and guitarist Martin Phillipps. For this tour The Chills will consist of Martin Phillipps, James Dickson, Erica Stichbury, Todd Knudson and Oli Wilson.

Having grown more iconic and relevant to indie pop as each year passes, there is huge anticipation for the return to Australia of The Chills and their Heavenly Pop Hits…

ABOUT THE CHILLS

James, Martin, Erica and Todd of The Chills

The Chills were formed in Dunedin in 1980 from the remains of a two-year-old high school punk band named The Same. Martin Phillipps was taken on as The Same’s the guitarist but soon became lead vocalist and then started writing the songs. When Martin’s songs began to outstrip the very rudimentary capabilities of The Same, he formed a new group: The Chills.

Martin had then (and still does today) a single-minded determination to take quality original NZ-sounding melodic rock music to the world. Martin’s requirement of band members over the years has been to meet a standard of musicianship, which is necessary to deliver The Chills’ songs with essential consistent energy in the live arena. Martin has maintained this difficult ideal through nearly all of the band’s 20 incarnations, and when it has been missing he has acted and changed the line-up.

This determination to maintain a high-powered approach to The Chills live shows stems from the punk rock ethics of Martin’s musical awakening, and from the subsequent proximity to charismatic persons like Chris Knox who drove home how crucial it was to deliver music always with intensity and conviction. This live energy is the central reason why The Chills are remembered fondly in all of the 29 countries that they have thus far visited.

It is the combination of this AND the consistent quality of their songs which have established The Chills as one of the most well-known NZ groups to date – particularly in the USA, UK and Europe. The Chills have had a string of hits over the years and have become a NZ institution with their songs being used on TV shows, commercials, and in movie soundtracks.

THE CHILLS TOUR DATES:

MELBOURNE: FRI MAY 14 @ East Brunswick Club w/- Guy Blackman + East Brunswick All Girls Choir, plus DJ RICK (The Twerps). SOLD OUT!

SYDNEY: SAT MAY 15 @ Oxford Art Factory w/ Songs Trio + DJ Berko.
Tickets $35 + BF on sale now from Moshtix, ph. 1300 GET TIX.

THE CHILLS ONLINE:

Website
Facebook
Myspace

James, Oli, Martin and Todd of The Chills

TEEN DREAM by BEACH HOUSE has been taken to heart by Australian radio with Album of the Week love from 3RRR-FM Melbourne, RTR in Perth and both FBi Radio and 2SER in Sydney.

The limited edition, super deluxe CD & DVD package of Teen Dream is out now on Mistletone Records through Inertia.

Teen Dream is an intricate, intimate record of sophisticated pop arrangements and advanced emotional engineering. Recorded over a month in a converted church with producer Chris Coady, Teen Dream weaves gently insinuating melodies and hazy soundwaves into an atmospheric record that will remain with listeners long after the last note fades.

“Teen Dream, the atmosphere-filled album by Baltimore dream-pop duo Beach House, came out this week and has already been getting the kind of hype that Grizzly Bear-style indie-to-mainstream crossovers are made of…” – THE SUNDAY AGE

More Beach House review love, including the coveted 9.0 rating from Pitchfork here.

Happy new year everyone, hope this year brings heaps of good things!

Here’s some Mistletone bits ‘n pieces to distract you from back-to-school doldrums…

BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT TOUR.

The Brightblack Morning Light tour has been rescheduled from January to April; see new confirmed dates below, with other dates to be added. All tickets purchased for the January shows will be valid for the April show; refunds are also available at the point of purchase. We’re sorry for the inconvenience but really excited that Brightblack Morning Light are finally coming to Australia!

For this tour Brightblack Morning Light will consist of Nathan Shineywater (who is making incredible new music under his new moniker, Berry Shadows) with two accompanists: Danielle Stech-Homsy (keyboards/vocals) who has released two fine solo albums under the name Rio en Medio, and percussionist Cannupa. Danielle Stech-Homsy, who plays keyboards and vocals in Brightblack Morning Light, will also perform a solo set of her bewitching folktronic lullabies under her Rio En Medio moniker.

BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT / RIO EN MEDIO TOUR DATES:

SYDNEY: Wednesday, April 7 at Oxford Art Factory.  Tickets $35 + booking fee available from Moshtix. Presented by 2SER.

MELBOURNE:  Thursday, April 8 at East Brunswick Club with special guest OREN AMBARCHI. Tickets $35 + booking fee available now from The East Box Office, on 9388 9794 or online. Presented by 3RRR.

BRISBANE: Saturday, April 10 at the Troubadour. Tickets $35 + booking fee on sale now from Oztix. Presented by 4ZZZ and Rave Magazine.

SUMMER TONES now TINY TONES.

Due to the unavailability of Summer Tones headliners Brightblack Morning Light and Rowland S Howard, who sadly passed away last week, Mistletone has regretfully cancelled Summer Tones. All tickets will be refunded at the point of purchase.

A more intimate show — dubbed Tiny Tones — will go ahead at the Corner on Saturday 16 January headlined by Melbourne’s queens of psych-surf guitar boogie BEACHES on the eve of their first US tour, plus San Francisco’s KELLEY STOLTZ with his all star Melbourne band, along with the debut performance by Animal Collective-endorsed Mississippi crooner DENT MAY & HIS MAGNIFICENT UKULELE (USA), wayfaring sweethearts ROYALCHORD and 10-piece Japanese “brutal orchestra” VAMPILLIA, plus DJs T-Hawk and Niccerboccer Avenue keeping the dancefloor fabulous between and after the bands. It’s going to be an awesome night and we hope you can join us! Tickets $20 + booking fee on sale now from the Corner box office and doors open 7.45pm.

KELLEY STOLTZ MELBOURNE & SYDNEY SHOWS.

Kelley Stoltz is in town for his Australian summer sojourn and with a couple of solo shows under his belt, will play headline shows in Melbourne and Sydney this week (see dates below). Kelley’s crackin’ band features Mikey Young (Eddy Current Suppression Ring), Mark Nelson (The Stabs), Steph Hughes (Dick Diver) and man about town, Julian Wu. Stop by the merch desk for some limited edition Kelley Stoltz vinyl including copies of Below The Branches and Circular Sounds on LP and Kelley’s new 7” single ”Baby I Got New For You” which will be available at his Australian shows until sold out.

KELLEY STOLTZ AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:

Thursday January 7 @ Curtin Bandroom (Melbourne): Kelley Stoltz band w/ Super Wild Horses + Alex Jarvis. Tickets $17 +BF on sale now from Moshtix or $20 at the door. Playing times: Doors Open 8:00pm, Alex Jarvis 9:00pm-9:40pm, Super Wild Horses 10:00pm – 10:40pm, Kelley Stoltz 11:00pm – 12:00am.

Saturday January 9 @ Sandringham Hotel (Sydney): Kelley Stoltz band w/ Songs + Carborator. Tickets $17 +BF on sale now from Moshtix or $20 at the door. Playing times: Doors Open 8:00pm, Carborator 8:30pm-9:10pm, Songs 9:30pm-10:10pm, Kelley Stoltz 10:30pm-11:45pm.

Sunday January 17: The Retreat Hotel (Melbourne): Kelley Stoltz solo w/ Lisa Miller + Sarah Bethe Nelson (USA). Tickets $15 at the door. Doors open 7pm.

ROYALCHORD @ WORKERS CLUB.

In the afterglow of critical acclaim for their album The Good Fight (out now through Mistletone), royalchord play at Melbourne’s Workers Club this Friday night. In what promises to be an evening of sweet tunes and pop gems, the royalchord gals and their new band will be joined by Geoffrey O’Connor (The Crayon Fields) with his band plus Milk Teddy and Slow Mo Speedboat, the splendiferous solo project of Jamie Mildren from Architecture in Helskinki. Spinning tunes will be the always wonderful DJ People. Doors open 8pm, tickets: $8+ BF on sale now at Moshtix.

To quote the recent rave royalchord review in Rhythms magazine: “With melodies that melt away like a stick of butter in the hot summer sun, royalchord have cornered the market with their ambient country stylings that are akin to crossing French synth-heavy dream pop stars Air with someone like Dawn Landes or Feist.”

DENT MAY AUSTRALIAN TOUR.

Mistletone proudly presents, all the way from Mississippi, Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele! Dent’s ebullient debut The Good Feeling Music of Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele was one of the most feel-good indie-pop delights of 2009. As you may guess from the title of his act, Dent indeed plays a ukelele, and 1950s through to 70s-style pop numbers are his game. Dent cites Prince, Serge Gainsbourg, and Lee Hazlewood as some of his favorite singers and comes highly recommended to fans of The Zombies, The Bee Gees, Jonathan Richman and Van Dyke Parks.

On his first ever Australian tour, Dent will perform as a duo, accompanied by his trusty sidekick Robert Chisolm. If you love clever, romantic, elegant and witty pop songs delivered by a charming young crooner who is 101 percent showman, then Dent May is your man!

DENT MAY AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES:

Sat 16 Jan: The Corner, Melbourne w/ Beaches, Kelley Stoltz, royalchord and Vampillia. Tickets $20 + BF on sale now from The Corner box office, 57 Swan St Richmond, or phone: 9427 9198.

Sun 17 Jan: Pure Pop Records instore, Melbourne. Starts 5pm, free entry!

Tue 19 Jan: The Empress, Melbourne w/ Geoffrey O’Connor (Crayon Fields) + Milk Teddy. Tickets on sale now from Mistletone website for $20 +BF.

Wed 20 Jan: Spectrum, Sydney w/ Megastick Fanfare + Art Rush. Tickets on sale now from Mistletone website for $20 +BF or from Moshtix.

Thu 21 Jan: Troubadour, Brisbane w/ BigStrongBrute + Lion Island. Tickets on sale now from Mistletone website for $20 +BF.

MY DISCO – YOUNG 12″.

My Disco and Mistletone have announced details of an ultra limited edition 12″ vinyl release of a cosmic new My Disco jam entitled YOUNG — a volatile, mindboggling excursion into the outer realms of My Disco’s dalliance with German minimalism, clocking in at 10:50! The B-side (duration 10:41) is a remix by Qua which warps the transmissions of YOUNG into sublime rhythmic frequencies.

Qua will team up with My Disco to launch the 12? in Sydney and Melbourne with special guests New War (comprised of expatriate Chris Pugmire (of acclaimed cult Seattle/Kill Rock Stars band Shoplifting) and Melbourne luminaries Melissa Lock (also ex-Shoplifting, ex-Remake/Remodel, ex-Bird Blobs), Steve Masterson (ex-Bird Blobs) and Jesse Shepherd (Sir). See dates below!

YOUNG will be released on 12″ vinyl and digital release on Mistletone Records through Inertia; release date February 6.

MY DISCO 12″ LAUNCH DATES:

SYDNEY: Friday 12 February @ Oxford Art Factory. My Disco with special guests Qua + New War. Tickets $18+bf onsale now from Moshtix Online, 1300 Get Tix (438 849), on your mobile via Moshtix Mobi and all Moshtix outlets.

MELBOURNE: Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 February @ The Toff In Town. My Disco with special guests Qua + New War. Tickets $18+bf onsale now from Moshtix: Online Saturday sales or Online Sunday sales, 1300 Get Tix (438 849), on your mobile via Moshtix Mobi and all Moshtix outlets including Polyester (City Only).

UPCOMING MISTLETONE RELEASES:

Mistletone is deliriously thrilled to release the new album by Beach House, definitely their finest yet! Teen Dream is Beach House’s Sub Pop debut and their third album on Mistletone, and is already being hailed as one of the most important indie releases of this year. To quote Victoria of Beach House: “There’s a different level of intimacy, a physicality on Teen Dream. Rhythmically, there’s new motion. This record touches you. On your chest.” The first pressing of Teen Dream will a limited edition deluxe package with a companion DVD featuring a video for each song on the album, each by a different director. Release date: January 23. Look out for a Beach House tour later in 2010!

TORO Y MOI: CAUSERS OF THIS.

Toro Y Moi (a.k.a. Columbia, South Carolina’s Chaz Bundick) is the sound the world has been waiting for. This multi-cultural juggernaut gathers up the best musical elements from around the globe— R&B, Indie Rock, Electronic Dance and Psychedelica —and creates something-freaking-else!

Over the course of his first groundbreaking full length Causers Of This, Toro Y Moi turns the aforementioned musics upside-down with his breathtakingly innovative approach. The incendiary power of Toro Y Moi’s funky synth and guitar play, pumping digital rhythms and gorgeously bright vocal harmonies makes for a formidable combination. A soon to be masterpiece of a currently unnamed genre!

Mistletone will release Toro Y Moi’s album Causers Of This on February 6. And yes he’ll be touring Australia sometime this year!

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART.

The Melbourne show for The Pains of Being Pure at Heart at East Brunswick Club with Crayon Fields and Summer Cats on Wednesday February 17 has sold out (yay!), so we’ve added an extra show, also at the East on Thursday February 18 with special guests The Smallgoods and Parking Lot Experiments. See updated tour dates below. All tix are also selling fast, so grab yours now! It’s been ace to see The Pains killing it in the year end lists! here are some quotable quotes amongst many…

‘This was the year’s high-lonesome sound, with military-sharp melodies hiding out beneath fuzzy guitar reverb’ – NEW YORK TIMES # 4 for 2009

‘Pure indie-pop to hold close to your heart’ – NME # 15 for 2009

‘The album has more than its share of instant classics, tracks that come down from the Platonic Heaven of teenagerdom on cascading synth lines and clouds of echoing guitars; A Teenager in Love and Young Adult Friction, in particular.’ – POPMATTERS # 20 for 2009

‘While Pains’ fuzzy production and sparkly guitar jangle made them timely, the energetic-but-effortless, bright-but-melancholic hooks of Stay Alive, Come Saturday, and Young Adult Friction are something closer to timeless.’ – PITCHFORK # 19 for 2009

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART DATES:

Melbourne : WED FEB 17 @ East Brunswick Club w/ Crayon Fields + Summer Cats (SOLD OUT). Presented by 3RRR and Inpress.

Melbourne : THU FEB 18 @ East Brunswick Club w/ The Smallgoods + Parking Lot Experiments. Tickets on sale from the venue. Presented by 3RRR and Inpress.

Perth : FRI FEB 19 @ Perth Festival Beck’s Music Box w/ special guest Bachelorette. Tickets on sale from the festival website.

Brisbane : SAT FEB 20 @ The Zoo w/ Crayon Fields + Toy Balloon. Tickets on sale online from The Zoo. Presented by 4ZZZ and Time Off.

Sydney : SUN FEB 21 @ Oxford Art Factory w/ Bachelorette + Canvas Kites. Tickets on sale from Moshtix. Presented by FBi Radio and Drum Media.

WOODEN SHJIPS.

San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips are bringing their super psychedelic sounds Australia for the Lost Weekend and Golden Plains Festivals, plus headline shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Uncut rated Wooden Shjips in their top 20 gigs of the year, and Jarvis Cocker recently described Wooden Shjips as one of his fave bands in Inpress, stating: “I really like Wooden Shjips. There’s nods to psychedelia, but something about it that stops it being a straightforward pastiche. There isn’t an agenda or a subtext to it.” Amen to that! Tjickets on sale now from the venues!

WOODEN SHJIPS DATES:

QUEENSLAND: SAT MAR 6 @ THE LOST WEEKEND FESTIVAL.

VICTORIA: SUN MAR 6 @ GOLDEN PLAINS FESTIVAL.

MELBOURNE: WED MAR 10 @ East Brunswick Club + special guests Kim Salmon & The Surrealists and Breathing Shrine. Tickets on sale from the venue.

SYDNEY: THU MAR 11 @ Annandale + special guests Naked on the Vague and Circle Pit. Tickets on sale now from the venue, phone: 02 9550 1078 or online.

Love and light,

sophie ‘n ash

Artwork by Gloz

Bachelorette returns to Melbourne for a headline show at Northcote Social Club on Saturday 20 February with two glorious supports — Ned Collette & Wirewalker and Patinka Cha Cha.

Tickets $12 + booking fee on sale now from NSC box office.

My Disco Myspace

My Disco and Mistletone have announced details of an ultra limited edition 12″ vinyl release of a cosmic new My Disco jam entitled YOUNG.

YOUNG is a volatile, mindboggling excursion into the outer realms of My Disco’s dalliance with German minimalism, clocking in at 10:50. The B-side (duration 10:41) is a remix by Qua which warps the transmissions of YOUNG into sublime rhythmic frequencies.

Qua will team up with My Disco to launch the 12″ in Sydney and Melbourne with special guests New War (comprised of expatriate Chris Pugmire (of acclaimed cult Seattle/Kill Rock Stars band Shoplifting) and Melbourne luminaries Melissa Lock (also ex-Shoplifting, ex-Remake/Remodel, ex-Bird Blobs), Steve Masterson (ex-Bird Blobs) and Jesse Shepherd (Sir). See dates below!

YOUNG was engineered and mixed by Scott Horscroft at Big Jesus Burger Studios, assisted by JP, and mastered by Jason Ward at Chicago Mastering Service. YOUNG will be released on 12″ vinyl and digital release on Mistletone Records through Inertia; release date February 6.

MY DISCO 12″ LAUNCH DATES:

SYDNEY: Friday 12 February @ Oxford Art Factory. My Disco with special guests Qua + New War. Tickets $18+bf onsale now from Moshtix Online, 1300 Get Tix (438 849), on your mobile via Moshtix Mobi and all Moshtix outlets.

MELBOURNE: Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 February @ The Toff In Town. My Disco with special guests Qua + New War. Tickets $18+bf onsale now from Moshtix: Online Saturday sales or Online Sunday sales, 1300 Get Tix (438 849), on your mobile via Moshtix Mobi and all Moshtix outlets including Polyester (City Only).

GEELONG: Friday 19 February  @ The National. My Disco with Special guests New War and Divide and Dissolve. Tickets $12+BF onsale online now from Oztix

Mistletone is proud to present for the first time in Australia, the super psychedelic sounds of San Francisco’s Wooden Shjips.

Wooden Shjips (that’s not a typo) is a quartet who play rock n roll in a style heavily influenced by the experimentalism of psychedelia, classical minimalism and garage rock excess. Started as an experiment in rhythmic primitivism and group improvisation, the current lineup brings a more structured rock approach to its performances.

Their songs sound something akin to the icy garage rock of early Echo & The Bunnymen crossed with the sun-bleached tremolo-punk of the Scientists. There are hints of krautrock, the trance-inducing organ haze of Suicide, Deerhunter style dance-drone, classic desert-fried garage psych and the mysterious, obscure Japanese lysergic-rock band Les Rallizes Denudes all mixed into one explosive whole.

WOODEN SHJIPS AUSTRALIAN TOUR DATES

QUEENSLAND: SAT MAR 6 @ THE LOST WEEKEND FESTIVAL.

VICTORIA: SUN MAR 6 @ GOLDEN PLAINS FESTIVAL.

GEELONG: MON MAR 8 @ National Hotel with special guests The Stabs + Divide and Dissolve. Tickets on sale now from Oztix.

MELBOURNE: WED MAR 10 @ East Brunswick Club with extra special guests Kim Salmon & The Surrealists + Breathing Shrine + DJ Ka-Splosion. Tickets on sale from the venue. *SELLING FAST!

SYDNEY: THU MAR 11 @ Annandale with Naked On The Vague + Circle Pit. Tickets on sale now from the venue, phone: 02 9550 1078 or online.