March 19th, the Suicide Squeeze label will be releasing a split 7" featuring The Coathangers and Nü Sensae , melody driven garage rock and heavy Amphetamine Reptile inspired scrawl.  Their respective contributions to the release, "Derek's Song" and "Throw," are streaming online. (via Spin ) (via Pitchfork ) All info comes courtesy of Enabler Agency. THE COATHANGERS & NÜ SENSAE RELEASE SPLIT 7” ON SUICIDE SQUEEZE 3/19   HEAR THE COATHANGERS: “ DEREK’S SONG ” HEAR NÜ SENSAE: " THROW " ON TOUR THIS SPRING, SXSW & EUROPEAN DATES Atlanta’s reigning garage rock daughters The Coathangers return March 19 with the third installment in their series of split 7”s on Suicide Squeeze. This time they’ve teamed up with labelmates Nü Sensae. Both new listeners and longtime fans of The Coathangers will be whipped into a frenzy with “Derek’s Song”, a party-banger perfectly encapsulating the quartet’s capacity for sharp hooks and jagged...

Akron/Family : "Until The Morning" (via Spin.com ) The Laughing : "Disappear" (via PureVolume and US/THEM Group) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

A fluttery electro-propulsive new wave single is what I needed to hear today apparently.  Small Black has released "Free At Dawn," the band's latest offering and the first single from their upcoming new album, Limits Of Desire , which won't be out until May 14th. All info, links and audio are courtesy of the great people at Jagjaguwar.   Small Black have announced that they will release their new album, Limits of Desire on May 14, 2013 via Jagjaguwar. They have shared the first single with The FADER today, along with the album art and tracklisting. Stream the first single "Free At Dawn" on SoundCloud Stream the first single "Free At Dawn" on YouTube   The cover of the album, shot by Dutch artist Scarlett Hooft Graafland , serves as as sort of visual source code for its themes. How are our desires limited and how, in turn, are we limited by them? Featuring a man and a woman embracing on either side of a ladder, the two are complete...

Pombagira Maleficia Lamiah Black Axis Records Released: 3.19.13 Stereokiller review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Lorelei : "Hole Punch" (video provided by Force Field PR) Lorelei - Hole Punch from Slumberland Records on Vimeo . Tricky : "Nothing's Changed" (via Life Or Death PR & Management) Melody's Echo Chamber : "Crystallized" (video provided by Noisey) David Bowie : "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" (Unsuitable for the cubicle!) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Here's some info on a documentary about the proto-punk Detroit rock band, Death .  You can also download an unreleased demo of their song, "Politicians in My Eyes. "   All info comes cour tesy of Enabler Agency.   DRAFTHOUSE FILMS TO RELEASE A BAND CALLED DEATH OFFICIAL SELECTION FOR SXSW 2013 DOCUMENTARY FILM HEAR AN UNRELEASED DEMO OF " POLITICIANS IN MY EYES " ROUGH FRANCIS SET TO PLAY SXSW Drafthouse Films, the film distribution arm of the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema, announced today the acquisition of North American rights to Jeff Howlett and Mark Covino ’s riveting rockumentary A Band Called Death , which is set to screen at this year’s SXSW Film Festival in the “24 Beats Per Second” film category. The film chronicles rebirth and rise to cult stardom of early-’70s African-American “proto-punk” trio Death, following a new generation’s discovery of a virtually unheard demo tape more than 30 years later. A theatrical and VOD release for A Band Called Dea...

Bosnian Rainbows : "Torn Map" Zorch : "We All Die Young" (via Spin.com ) Still Corners : "Berlin Lovers" (via SubPop.com )                         Pete Swanson : "Grounds For Arrest" (via Enabler PR)   Disappears : "Kone" (via The Quietus ) Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Baptists Bushcraft Southern Lord Released: 2.19.13 No Ripcord review Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

A live tribute to the late and amazing Ron Asheton will be released on DVD April 9th.  Ron Asheton Tribute Concert with Iggy & The Stooges + Special Guests was recorded almost two years ago to the date of the film's release and features Henry Rollins and Radio Birdman 's Deniz Tek as a guest guitarist. All info was provided by MVD Entertainment Group. Ron Asheton Tribute Concert with Iggy & the Stooges + Special Guests   Coming to DVD on April 9 Live concert tribute to brother Ron Asheton featuring the Stooges, Henry Rollins and more! Recorded live at the Michigan Theater, this heartfelt tribute/celebration of Stooge guitarist Ron Asheton's life and music featured Iggy and the Stooges, Henry Rollins, and guest guitarist Deniz Tek (Radio Birdman). Includes a string section on a few Stooges classics! All profits from the sale of the DVD go to the Ron Asheton Foundation which supports animal welfare and music. Gary Graff of BILLBOARD writes: ...

Another offering from the upcoming new album from Tera Melos , X'ed Out , surfaced today.  "Sunburn" is streaming courtesy of Vice/Noisey , full of math-riddled melody and pop harmonizing.   Looking forward to this one. Tour dates with TTNG (formerly known as This Town Needs Guns ) have also been made available.  TTNG's recent release, 13.0.0.0.0 , was reviewed at No Ripcord . Two shows are happening in Philly at The Fire , one of which is already sold out. All info, tour dates and links were provided by Us/Them Group.   Tera Melos premiere another song from forthcoming album via Vice's Noisey.com North American tour dates with TTNG starting in April Listen to " Sunburn " Sacramento's genre-benders Tera Melos premiere another new song from their forthcoming new album, X'ed Out today via Vice's Noisey.com . The track, " Sunburn " is available to stream/share HERE . Tera Melos also launch extensive North America...

This year's Baby Snakes :   Bad News From Houston is the work of Deerhoof 's John Dietrich and Thollem McDonas of Tsigoti .  Their strange, seemingly structureless ode to human disconnection in the digital age brought to mind the overwhelming visual and atonal relationship between Frank Zappa 's free form sound experiments and the clay-mation work of Bruce Bickford explored in Zappa's Baby Snakes film. Bad News from Houston cover art by Tuia Cherici The duo's new album, In the Valley of the Cloud Builder , is out on Post-Consumer Records . Info comes courtesy of Kinsman and Meng PR. John Dieterich (Deerhoof) and Thollem McDonas (Tsigoti) have created an album of complete immediacy, wherein every sound is presented with such vividness and detail that each minute sound event becomes foregrounded. When an acoustic guitar is played, you don’t just hear the strings, you hear the wood, too. When the strings of the piano explode, you are inside the soun...

The good people at The Quietus were nice enough to post "Painting On A Corpse," a new piece of music from the eponymous debut of Ensemble Pearl .  An all-star personnel that includes Stephen O'Mally ( Sunn O))) ), Atsuo ( Boris ), William Herzog ( The Sweet Hereafter , Sunn O))) ) and Michio Kurihara ( Ghost ), Ensemble Pearl's new track is an interesting combination of Earth -inspired drones, surf timbre and factorial rhythmic cycling, a more immediate, less ponderous translation of Dylan Carlson 's dirt-encrusted Angels of Darkness , Demons of Light wanderings. The album will also feature composers Eyvind Kang and Timba Harris and will be released via Drag City Records on March 18th. All info comes courtesy of Rarely Unable.  As previously mentioned, the Soundcloud link comes courtesy of The Quietus. Ensemble Pearl cast light on immersive album track "Painting On A Corpse" Ensemble Pearl are Atsuo , William Herzog , Michio Kurih...

Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Last Valentine's Day , I found songs with "Love" in the title to celebrate the occasion.  This year, I did the same thing, but then decided that I would ALSO try and find some that might be a tad on the offensive side.  Think of romance purely in terms of its physical motivations without the warm and fuzzies, (at least in terms of the emotional warm and fuzzies). Enjoy the playlist and, if you'd like, recommend some more. Ciccone Youth (Sonic Youth) — “Addicted to Love” Nina Simone — “Since My Love Is Gone” Pantera — “Good Friends and a Bottle of Pills” Pixies — “La La Love You” PJ Harvey & John Parish — “Black Hearted Love” Queen — “Get Down, Make Love” Rollins Band — “Love Song” Sic Alps — “Love Is Strange” The Slits — “Love Und Romance” Sly & The Family Stone — “Love City” Thelonious Monk Quartet w/ John Coltrane — “Sweet & Lovely” Them Crooked Vultures — “No One Loves Me & Neither Do I” Tom Waits...

So, the honors for the best psych metal split release of 2012 went to Alaric and Atriarch .  This year, it looks as though Reflection of the Negative by Cough and Windhand will act as successor.  The below trailer certainly has promise. The album will be out via Relapse Records on April 16th.  All info, links and tour dates were provided by Earsplit PR.    COUGH / WINDHAND Split Album To See Spring Release Via Relapse Relapse Records this week unveils a pummeling upcoming split between two prime acts in the contemporary doom/sludge circuit, COUGH and WINDHAND. With both COUGH and WINDHAND hailing from the unrestrained Richmond, Virginia underground, the choice to team the two of them up for the brutal Reflection Of The Negative split album was a simple one, and the results are, as expected, thunderous and immense. COUGH leads off, delivering a characteristically electrifying down-tuned epic track, while their brethren in WINDHAND serve up two brand ...

Baptists ' upcoming new album, Bushcraft , will be reviewed in the next few days.  In the meantime, the title track is streaming at Cvlt Nation , so you should check that out and try and keep your head intact. Baptists' debut 7" was reviewed at Stereokiller in 2011.   All info comes courtesy of Earsplit PR. British Columbia’s volatile hardcore/punk faction BAPTISTS will release their debut LP Bushcraft via Southern Lord next Tuesday, February 19th in North America. While BAPTISTS’ debut 7” immediately turned heads scene-wide, Bushcraft is ripping them right off. Recorded at Godcity Studio with Kurt Ballou , the eleven anthems on Bushcraft embody lyrical angst and a seething vocal delivery propelled by white-knuckled snare-blasts, d-beat thunder, dissonant riff urgency and an overall relentless by-the-throat approach, advocating the band’s creed of destruction through a blistering, discordant hybrid of punk-fueled hardcore. BAPTISTS today unload the battering t...

Received notice this morning of a band called Snapped Ankles , who will be releasing a single in late March called, "True Ecology (Shit Everywhere)."  It's a decent art rock tune and my mind immediately went to Devo for comparison's sake.  The linked version of the song is very short, so I'm assuming it's an excerpt of the single. All info comes courtesy of Sure Shot PR. DEBUT SINGLE 'TRUE ECOLOGY (SHIT EVERYWHERE) OUT ON 25th MARCH 2013 London post-punk outfit Snapped Ankles release their debut single 'True Ecology (shit everywhere)' on Ears Have Eyes on 25th March 2013. Snapped Ankles throw together a fusion of searing off kilter post-punk but with a healthy blend of dance floor rhythms, synthesized noise and jagged aesthetics. LISTEN TO 'TRUE ECOLOGY (SHIT EVERYWHERE)': https://soundcloud.com/ears-have-eyes-recordings/snapped-ankles-true-ecology Snapped Ankles are a London based band who make way out punk music appearing in wei...

Bong Live at St. Mary’s Old Church & Burial Ground MEI Music Released: 1.14.13 Acoustics and amplification: You can bet that a cavernous hall provides quite the conduit for doom-laden, sludge metal and to many its mere presence within a place of worship would likely qualify as blasphemy.  So, that's what Bong has going for them. Bong's new live album, Live at St. Mary's Old Church & Burial Ground , is two sides and two songs ("Church" and "Burial"), a limited run LP ably translating the enormity of sound captured during this performance on October 16th, 2011.  While Bong stretch their guitars throughout the expanse, lengthy tones conspiring into an aural soup, voices drone with an air of ceremonial observance.  It's an effective approach, though a tad predictable.  Live at St. Mary's is an effort concerned mainly with scale and of that there is no shortage.    Nature of the genre: to impress upon as opposed to impress. ...

White Lung : Found out about these guys today as they've scored tour spots with Pissed Jeans and Iceage .  Evidently White Lung is a band I missed in 2012, their LP, Sorry , having gained a decent amount of praise from some of the better known virtual rock rags.  Sorry is available to stream online via White Lung's Bandcamp .  All info, links and tour dates are courtesy of Enabler PR. WHITE LUNG ANNOUNCE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR CO-HEADLINING W/ PISSED JEANS, MERCHANDISE & ICEAGE LISTEN TO WHITE LUNG’S SORRY LP OUT NOW ON DERANGED RECORDS HERE Vancouver’s furious yet melodic punk band White Lung, kick off their Spring tour this March with major city dates that include SXSW, Tree Fort Music Fest, Middle of the Map Fest plus shows with Iceage , Pissed Jeans and Merchandise . Their second LP, Sorry (Deranged Records) was released last year and pushed the band to a wider audience receiving critical acclaim from SPIN, Pitchfork, Bitch and gained Rolling Ston...

So...  I'll be more than happy to cover this.  Anyone willing to pay my airfare, hotel and bar tab? Sub Pop will turn a quarter of a century this 2013 with a big party and a new compilation that will be released this Record Store Day, Sub Pop 1000 .   All info comes courtesy of Sub Pop. The Sub Pop Records Silver Jubilee: Saturday, July 13, 2013 A 25th Anniversary Public Display of Affection & Sub Pop 1000 Compilation Release Details In honor of our 25th anniversary year, we at Sub Pop Records will be hosting an altogether free event, which we’re calling The Silver Jubilee, to be held July 13, 2013 in Seattle’s historic Georgetown neighborhood. Along and surrounding Airport Way, we are fairly certain there will be some combination of… Actual live bands, playing actual live music! Some sort of art-related something or other! Like, in a gallery space, we’re thinking! A record fair-type event! Food! Beer and wine! (The food and beer and wine and soda or wha...

Tomahawk 's recently released fourth album, Oddfellows , was reviewed at No Ripcord .  Today, I saw a video for the album's title track, its Jesus Lizard tone and Bungle -esque crawl a great synthesis of the band's musical origins.   Sincerely, Letters From A Tapehead

Because the Melvins never seem to run out of excuses to release more material, a covers album featuring an admirable list of collaborators will be coming out in April called Everybody Loves Sausages .  Both the Lite and Big Business line-ups of the Melvins are featured and guests include Jello Biafra ( Dead Kennedys ), Scott Kelly ( Neurosis ) and Mark Arm ( Mudhoney ). All info has been provided by Rarely Unable. GUESTS INCLUDE MARK ARM, JELLO BIAFRA, JG THIRLWELL AND SCOTT KELLY The Melvins return with a 13-track covers album titled Everybody Loves Sausages which is set for an Apr. 29 release in UK/EU via Ipecac Recordings . "This record will give people a peak into the kind of things that influence us musically," explains Buzz Osborne . "We REALLY like all of these songs along with the bands who actually wrote this stuff because first and foremost we are HUGE music fans." In a decidedly Melvins approach to a covers album, the band not only s...

Mogwai 's soundtrack for the French television show, Les Revenants , will be released by Sub Pop on February 26th.  Their new single "Wizard Motor" surfaced today, pushing the band's signature drama and expansive guitar sound into the televised realm with decent enough results.  Considering the supernatural tone of the show, "Wizard Motor," at the very least, sounds appropriate to the subject matter. Sample the tune and review the info below.  All info, links and music were provided by Sub Pop. Sub Pop to release Mogwai’s Les Revenants soundtrack in North America on February 26  Available on CD, LP and digitally; Europe on February 25 via Rock Action Stream “Wizard Motor” here . Watch Les Revenants TV spot here . Sub Pop will release Mogwai’s soundtrack for Les Revenants , the French supernatural thriller and most popular TV series in Canal + history, on February 26 in North America on LP, CD, and digitally. As previously announced, Les Re...

A new video from Liars : This is the title track from their most recent release WIXIW , which was reviewed in 2012 at No Ripcord . In addition to their new video, Liars will be playing two New York dates, one of which will take place at The Temple of Dendur in The Metropolitan Museum of Art.  This is one of the best ideas I've ever heard and apparently it's all part of an exhibit dubbed PUNK: Chaos to Couture .  The show is unfortunately sold out, but nevertheless, information on the event is available below. The video and all links and info were provided by Mute. LIARS   New Video for “WIXIW”   This past June Liars released their sixth studio album, WIXIW , along with a string of remixes and videos for their singles “No.1 Against the Rush” and “Brats”. Today they unveil the NEW video for “WIXIW”directed by the Los Angeles-based artist Alex/2Tone . Unsettling and captivating the video for “WIXIW” has a momentum indicative of the album as a whole, ...