Woven Bones has signed to the Hardly Art label and, in recognition of the move, a new 7” from the Bones is being released on August 10th, “I’ve Gotta Get” b/w “Hey Kid.” “I’ve Gotta Get” has a lot of that lo-fi smog that seems to have qualified as “commonplace” lately, but I love the surf timbre guitars and the Stooges -level of resigned energy they seem to generate. ”I’ve Gotta Get” I still have to pick up their recently released album, In and Out and Back Again . It’s on my list. If you’re interesting in seeing Woven Bones live, Insound recently brought the band in for their Insound Sessions series: http://www.insound.com/sessions/ Tour dates via press release: 08.06.10 – Austin TX at the United States of Art Authority (w/ Happy Birthday, Residual Echoes) 08.07.10 – Dallas TX at the Nightmare 08.10.10 – Denver CO at Hi Dive (w/ Woodsman) 08.11.10 – Salt Lake City at Kilby Court 08.12.10 – Boise ID at Neurolux 08.13.10 – Portland OR at Plan B (SMMR BMMR) 08.14.10 – Sea

If you found credibility in the attempted New Wave dance rock persona of The Killers , Jaill may make you reconsider your position. Sub Pop’s Jaill just released their debut album, That’s How We Burn and its two singles, “The Stroller” and “Everyone’s Hip” are based in a friendly variety of guitar-immersed indie rock/post-punk. Nothing particularly new about this, but Jaill is catchy and infectious in a melodic manner of speaking. “The Stroller” in particular owes a good amount to Joy Division ’s “A Means To An End.” ”The Stroller” ”Everyone’s Hip” Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Menomena Mines Barsuk Records Released: 7.27.10 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Musician Nicole Turley ’s Swahili Blonde had to have been helped along by a healthy, (or unhealthy), consumption of psychotropic chemicals and Diet Coke. If it wasn’t, then Turley gets some credit for bringing Studio 54 and CBGBs to Woodstock, because this is one of the strangest combinations of dub-immersed post-punk and world-tinged dance music I’ve heard. Man Meat , the first album from Swahili Blonde, will be out via Manimal Vinyl on August 3rd and features the groovy “Le Mampatee” (video) and keyboard-percussive “Elixor Fixor” (audio). SWAHILI BLONDE - LE MAMPATEE from Burke Roberts on Vimeo . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

The first David Bowie album I ever bought was a used copy of Station To Station , its edges lovingly sealed with Scotch tape, yellow with age, Bowie’s black and white outward gaze fading. I liked the simplicity of the album’s appearance; red type on white, capitalized and bold, the words running into each other. The package did more than suggest that the album would crackle and fizz like a Pop Rock once I dropped the needle, but I wanted to hear it. Since then, Station To Station is gospel I’ve had no trouble preaching. Aware of the awesome that is Bowie’s tale of “The Thin White Duke” and the influential nose candy that courses through his soul, EMI is delivering a very expanded version of the album. Via EMI Press Release (and it's a lot to take in): DAVID BOWIE ‘STATION TO STATION’ - SPECIAL & DELUXE EDITIONS - INCLUDING THE PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED AND MUCH SOUGHT-AFTER CONCERT LIVE NASSAU COLISEUM ‘76’ RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 28, 2010 - PLUS NEW LINER NOTES

Through Exploding In Sound , I found an article on Pitchfork about Fugazi ’s developing archive of live music, which may be available by the end of 2010. This is in addition to the volumes of live shows available at Dischord Records . I’m very excited to find out if the show I attended in 1995 made the cut. Photo by Jem Cohen And, of course, whenever I read any news of Fugazi , I basically launch myself into an all day listening party. I managed to get through End Hits , the Furniture EP and In On The Kill Taker today, and am about halfway through the underrated Instrument soundtrack. I know I’ve established my love of this band on more than a handful of occasions, but Fugazi is as essential to a record collection as anything Dylan , Sabbath , Zeppelin or Stones related and, for whatever weak links those bands were unfortunate enough to offer the world, Fugazi’s output is nearly perfect. Debate that all you want; you’re wrong. Actually found a live clip from ‘95 Par

7.15.10: Indie garage rockers Quasi threw down a couple tracks from their recently released album, American Gong , for Daytrotter last week. I posted the first song, “Repulsion,” back in January , and the session version still carries the same loud resignation or Stooges flavored discontent. Most impressive is “White Horse,” which may now be one of my favorite songs of the year. I like the line, “If it’s not too loud, then you’re not to old,” especially as the song progresses into louder, more energetic garage phrasing. You can find the session here. 7.19.10: If you haven’t heard Liars ’ Sisterworld yet, what the fuck are you doing reading this? Please find a record store and pick up a copy, it’s one of the year’s best albums: perfectly paranoid and sonically understated. Liars do enjoy their lapses into No Wave-inspired mayhem, but there’s an obsessive and compulsive disposition lurking behind every song, creepily airing out frustrations and observations. Admittedly,

Saturday, July 17th, marked 43 years since John Coltrane ’s life was cut short by liver cancer at the age of 40. Paying tribute to the man who “might be my single favorite musician besides maybe Ian MacKaye or Jimi Hendrix ,” Henry Rollins took the opportunity to devote an entire episode of his Harmony In My Head radio show to Coltrane. The broadcast can be downloaded at the Harmony In My Head archive site , or check it out at KCRW . Via Rollins’ broadcast notes : KCRW BROADCAST #72 07-17-10 Fanatics! Tonight is a very cool show. It’s all Coltrane, all night. On July 17, 1967, John Coltrane, a Jazz giant, passed away at age 40. It would be perhaps a little brighter occasion if this was Coltrane’s birthday. I couldn’t let this opportunity to pay tribute and homage not only to the man and his greatness but to his amazing bands. The Classic Quartet of Elvin Jones on drums, Jimmy Garrison on bass and McCoy Tyner on piano. Also, we are going to listen to Coltrane’s later line up of

Thrill Jockey just released a trailer for the upcoming 77 Boa Drum DVD, the large scale 77 drum performance piece by the Boredoms . Give it a look. 77 BOA DRUM trailer from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo . Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

You have to love concert events that make you question your residence. For this, it would be cool to live in New York City. Via Earsplit: NYC Performance of ALTAR And BXI Announced Southern Lord today announces a rare New York City concert featuring label artists ALTAR and BXI , in conjunction with All Tomorrow's Parties and The Blackened Music Series! ALTAR is a collaboration between SUNN O))) and BORIS that is a result of both bands conceptualizing, writing and recording together as one entity. There are elements of each group's trademark sound but true to each group's progressive and experimental aspects, ALTAR moves into a completely new dimension. This is the first NYC performance of ALTAR. BXI is the collaboration between BORIS and Ian Astbury ( The Cult ). Southern Lord will release the debut recordings by this group in August 2010. This finely-crafted four-song release, simply entitled BXI , was tracked and mixed in Tokyo in late April. Astburys'

CocoRosie Grey Oceans Sub Pop Released: 5.11.10 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Via Speakeasy PR: David Yow, The Jesus Lizard/Scratch Acid front man, Unveils First Collection of Artwork At Echo Park's DIY Gallery on Aug. 14 LOS ANGELES, July 7 -- David Yow , legendary front man for The Jesus Lizard and Scratch Acid , makes his art exhibition debut with SOLO: the first ever one-man exhibition of paintings, collage and digital drawings by David Yow running Aug. 14 to Sept. 11 at DIY Gallery in Echo Park, Calif. The opening reception for SOLO , with Yow on hand as well as a celebratory evening featuring music and drinks, is Aug. 14 from 7:00 to 11:00 pm. The works created for this show are rooted in Yow’s personal and psychological history, and feature a broad spectrum of mediums. From acrylic, pencil, charcoal, crayon, hair, bugs, collage, and tar on wood, to line drawings digitally combined with photographic textures, Yow reveals an uncommon artistic perspective. In addition to original works for sale, DIY is offering signed prints of Yow’s pos

About a month ago, I was asked to contribute reviews for Kicking Against The Pricks , which is an online music source billed as "the premise of a magazine in the form of a website." Issue #1 is up for perusal: http://kickingagainstthepricks.org/#home I contributed reviews for the following: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti Before Today 4AD 6.8.10 Kicking Against The Pricks review You should take a minute to check out "Round And Round" from Before Today . Also, Ariel Pink and Co. will be touring with The Flaming Lips , Puro Instinct and Magic Kids . Via Force Field PR : 12-Jul Portland, OR Doug Fir # 13-Jul Seattle, WA Neumo's # 14-Jul Vancouver, BC Biltmore # 16-Jul Salt Lake City, UT Urban Lounge # 17-Jul Denver, CO Bluebird # 19-Jul Minneapolis, MN Entry # 20-Jul Chicago, IL Lincoln Hall # 21-Jul Detroit, MI Pike Room # 22-Jul Toronto, ONT Mod Club # 23-Jul Montreal, PQ La Sala Ros

R.E.M. Fables of the Reconstruction (25th Anniversary Edition) Capitol/I.R.S. Originally released: 6.10.85 Released: 7.13.10 R.E.M. has hit that mark where their albums are becoming classics and thusly those albums warrant the re-mastered/reissued/reintroduced cycle experienced once the celebrated milestone years are reached. It seems then that record labels realize what they have and the marketing potential they can exploit. For R.E.M., the magic number is “25” and those avid fans of college radio, when Murmur and Reckoning were their steady diet between exams and keggers, will undoubtedly grab hold of these newly minted gems as manipulated and welcomed nostalgia takes hold. Both Murmur and Reckoning had their respective 25th birthdays recognized in 2008 and 2009 and now 1985’s Fables of the Reconstruction gets to blow out the candles in 2010. Packaged in a thick flip-top box, the new Fables is accompanied by a pretty comprehensive demo disc dubbed, “The Athens Demos.”

Tuesday, (July 5th), New Brunswick record label Don Giovanni released Holy Hell , a solo album Screaming Female Marissa Paternoster . Going by the name Noun , Paternoster’s output is an interesting cross-section of Joan Jett and PJ Harvey , vocal strength meeting rock n’ roll passion that sounds more alienated than rebellious. “Brother” is carried by fuzz and thud, both severe and captivating, while “Holy Hell” rages a little more, soft moments blowing up into clamoring Pixies bursts of guitar and cymbal. ”Brother” ”Holy Hell” ....................................................................................... Sweet Apple is a J Mascis side-project that should be dubbed, The Jimi Zeppelin Thin Lizzy Experience . Their new album, Love & Desperation , is a complete culmination of everything that was arena-worthy in the 70s and seemed seminal in the late 60s. They even copped their album cover from Roxy Music . Their song, “Do You Remember,” is being included on

Inasmuch as I can understand and appreciate the "phasing out" of a format, the CD's passing isn't going to happen overnight. With new albums, I do see the need to begin establishing the options: the MP3 in all its lame (albeit portable) permutations and vinyl for the rest of us that give a shit about what we're listening to. I don't agree that ridding the world of CDs is the best thing, but it's difficult to argue with the "green" movement. It's plastics: a lot of which has had the misfortune of forever carrying timely, disposable music. But, unlike the sounds that we can forget if we choose to, these wasted albums are forever heaped in landfills. For the sake of the environment, maybe it is better the CD disappear. However, in terms of reissues, I can't fathom the idea of forgoing a physical option as these albums, which are sacred to some of us, once had shape and presence. Helmet reissued their third album, 1994's

The unsigned Letting Up Despite Great Faults have been garnering a lot of positive press in regards to their self-titled debut album which came out last year. I caught wind of the band thanks to their management label, who signed the band in June and sent me a link to this video for their song, “Our Younger Noise.” The video’s entertaining and full of that necessary hipster scenario whimsy that one needs to appease their intended audience, but the song itself is a pleasantly mellow combination of Kevin Shields and Phoenix , poppy and tenderly infused with light doses of electricity. Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Coming off the release of the Dum Dum Girls ’ I Will Be , drummer Frankie Rose (also a former Vivian Girl and Crystal Stilt ) is releasing the self-titled debut of her newest vehicle, Frankie Rose and the Outs . The first single from her upcoming release, “Little Brown Haired Girls,” is what you’ve come to expect from Rose, Spector -ized 60s girl groove with garage punch. ”Little Brown Haired Girls” The album will be out September 21st on Slumberland Records . A review of I Will Be by the Dum Dum Girls can be found at No Ripcord . ....................................................................................... Thrill Jockey is releasing a DVD performance of “77 Boa Drum” by Boredoms . Via Thrill Jockey: On July 7th, 2007 at 7:07 PM, Japanese group Boredoms, orchestrated a performance by 77 drummers at the Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park in Brooklyn, NY. Nearly three years later, the experience is finally making its way to DVD. 77 Boa Drum is the official live

As warm weather persists, so does the want to vacate workplace woes and find some sand and sun to enjoy. Exciting those summertime inclinations to just enjoy life, Wavves is releasing his new album, King of the Beach , sooner than expected. Digitally, you’ll be able to pick up his latest album now through iTunes. Purists will still have to wait until August to own a physical copy, which will be released through Fat Possum Records . “Post Acid,” the album’s first single, is sun-drenched and fun, an overall wish for youthful indiscretions and the bliss of irresponsibility a byproduct of its energy. Via Force Field PR : Fri-Aug-06 Chicago, IL Lollapalooza Sat-Aug-07 Chicago, IL Empty Bottle / Lollapalooza afterparty * Thu-Aug-12 San Diego, CA Museum of Contemporary Art / San Diego Fri-Aug-13 Pomona, CA The Glass House # Sat-Aug-14 Portland, OR Berbati's Pan Mon-Aug-16 Santa Barbara, CA Soho Tue-Aug-17 Santa Cruz, CA