//live @ kino metropol, sovenia with the sandwitches I have been waiting so long for a Carletta Sue Kay LP that I can’t even stand it anymore. After releasing the occasional gem and opening for GIRLS during their appearance at GAMH, we all know San Francisco’s own Randy Walker is sitting on something big. We [...]

Girls will play their biggest London headline show to date on the 28th May at the HMV Forum in Camden. The band will then head france for 3 dates before they play their slot at Barcelona's Primavera Festival. Christopher Owens and co. already played to sell out crowds last year and released one of the finest albums of 2011 with Father, Son, Holy Ghost . Tickets go on sale at 9am tomorrow morning and you'll be joining a long line of 405 staffers in the queue to buy. Best bit of news all day. Full Dates 28 May – London ...

A visceral, emotionally charged night. Strong feelings hung in the air and wrapped themselves around us. Of course there was fun to be had, but Girls at the Oxford Art Factory last night was full of tender and true moments. Super charged feelings of passion and heartbreak. I had previously written off this Californian band as overhyped and lacking substance. I liked a few of the tracks off their highly praised debut but mostly I found their songs to be cloying and just a little too twee. But 2011 changed all of that. "Father, Son, Holy Ghost" was a thunderbolt ...

Posted at 2:15pm, 1/26/2012 Noise Pop , San Francisco's music festival will celebrate their 20th anniversary this February. This year features The Flaming Lips, Sleigh Bells, The Fresh & Onlys, Bob Mould & more. Check the Noise Pop site for the full schedule of performances: www.lineup.noisepop.com/events/2012/02/21/?alldays=1/ . betterPropaganda has created a Noise Pop 2012 Mix featuring our favorite bands playing the festival. You can stream or download mp3s from the mix, and don't forget to check the poster art by the one and only, Shepard Fairey, below. Noise Pop 2012 Sampler [ play ] [RICH MEDIA, CLICK TO VIEW ON SITE] The Noise Pop Festival is San Francisco’s favorite indie music, arts and film festival. Now in its 20th year, Noise Pop has brought early exposure to many emerging artists in the Bay Area and beyond, many of whom have gone on to widespread acclaim. Some notable acts who have played Noise Pop include the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, The Flaming Lips, Death Cab for Cutie, The Shins, Bright Eyes, Best Coast, Jeff Tweedy, The Dodos, Girls and Antony and The Johnsons. The festival has also featured musical legends such as Yoko Ono and The Plastic Ono Band, Bob Mould, Yo La Tengo, X, Frank Black (of the Pixies), Sleater-Kinney and Television. In addition, the festival boasts a film series that explores the intersection of music and art; Pop-n-Shop, a local designer fair; Culture Club, an interactive workshop exploring DIY culture; Art Gallery Shows; Happy Hours and much more. If you are able to donate to help keep betterPropaganda going strong, please do. If not, just sit back and enjoy the music! Any amount is appreciated. Please feel free to donate securely through Paypal. Thanks for your support, we wouldn't be here today without our fans ...

Download link is in the original post Sounds like: Girls, Surfer Blood, Real Estate Song: Sporting Life - Immigrant [download here ] What's so good? We’re always stoked to see good talent coming out of San Francisco, so when Sporting Life’s “Immigrant Song” was sent our way, we jumped at the opportunity. Drawing comparisons The Shins, the quintet has gone so far as to support the likes of British Sea Power at The Independent. While that within itself is an accomplishment (the playing The Independent part), it’s even more impressive to note that the group is only around ...

The backstory behind San Francisco’s Girls has been reiterated so many times that I won’t reiterate it here. But I will reiterate how often it’s been reiterated. It’s been reiterated so often that people hardly even mention the glorious hair of frontman Christopher Owens. That stuff is transcendent, like it came out of a fairy tale or something. You know, like the golden thread made by that charming rascal Rumpelstilskin. Or that Rapunzel lady! In a just world, articles about Girls would always begin with “Girls, whose frontman Christopher Owens has some seriously great hair…” Also ...

Today Unknown Mortal Orchestra premiered the video for 'Thought Ballune' on Rolling Stone's website . The band is set to hit the road with Girls in March and will be headlining a few shows next month. Tour dates and video below: UMO - Thought Ballune from Jordan Blady on Vimeo . San Francisco, CA, Clift Hotel, 2/24 Los Angeles, CA, Echoplex, 2/25 Santa Monica, CA, The Central, 2/26 San Luis Obispo, CA, SLO Brew, 2/27 Visalia, CA, Cellar Door, 2/28 Santa Cruz, CA, Coconut Grove Ballroom, 3/1 San Diego, CA, Birch North Park Theatre, 3/2 ...

San Francisco Indie Rock/Pop group Girls is touring again! Formed in 2007 by Christopher Owens and Chet “JR” White, Girls have hit the top 500 songs of the 2000s with “Hellhole Ratrace” and received critical acclaim for their 2009 album appropriately named Album. With a new album Father, Son, Holy Ghost released September 13 2011, the Girls are [...]

San Francisco’s Girls played one of the most triumphant, life-affirming sets we’ve ever witnessed at... Read more »

Sweden's First Aid Kit is releasing their sophomore full-length album The Lion's Roar on January 24th, 2012 via Wichita Recordings. Where the bands 2010’s debut, The Big Black and the Blue , was lonely and intimate, The Lion’s Roar is a full band effort that is comparable to the recordings of American folk/country artists like Emmylou Harris and Nanci Griffth. Klara and Johanna Söderberg recorded their new disc in Omaha with producer Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes) and contributing musicians include the girls’ father Benkt on bass, Mattias Bergqvist on drums along with Mogis, Nate Walcott and ...

Radiohead have just been announced as one of the headliners at this year's Coachella festival in California. Here, in our latest visit to Rock's Backpages – the world's leading archive of vintage rock journalism – Clare Kleinedler describes meeting the band when they were on the cusp of fame in May 1996 Britpop. It's all over the place, all of a sudden. There's Oasis, the Beatles' rip-offs trying to emulate the Rolling Stones' drug-taking, groupie-filled past. Then there's Blur, the self-described "middle-class" darlings of the UK music scene who just can't seem to make a ...

Words: Saam Das Our top fifty albums of the past year continues in this penultimate post. We'll wrap this up tomorrow. Links to the other parts: 50-31 // 30-21 // 20-11 // 10-1 20) White Russia - 'O Jerusalem' Enthralling, dark, and above all, consistent. "Layered harmonies weave images of impending apocalypse with dark overdriven synths and uncompromising bass lines, making for a not always comfortable sensory experience." (Jack Thomson, full review of 'O Jerusalem' here ) 19) Will Haven - 'Voir Dire' Not a male solo singer-songwriter as you may presume but instead a noise metal quintet from Sacramento, who split for three years ...

PropertyOfZack’s first Label Talk with Rise Records was one of our favorites in the series, so we thought it would be a great idea to chat with founder Craig Ericson once again. Craig and I discussed the label’s continuous roster transition, quality vs quantity, the reputation of the label, the music industry in general, and what’s to come from Rise in 2012, among many other things. Make sure to read the full piece! Last year, we opened up our Label Talk interview by asking you to discuss the transformation Rise Records made from the beginning of 2010 ...

**NOTE** The items within the following lists are not ranked in order of importance or artistic value.  Instead, they are listed randomly, or in some cases, as recalled by memory.  While the difference between good art and mediocre drivel is easily discernible, it is the author's opinion that ranking actual art is a random, arbitrary, and highly unscientific process, therefore inappropriate for these purposes. Hopefully, the absence of numbered lists will not frighten or cause excessive discomfort so as to keep the reader from enjoying this post to the fullest.   Additionally, the reader is encouraged to post any omissions ...

Seconda tappa nel trip sonoro cannibale con gli album che ho apprezzato di più in questo 2011. Dopo le posizioni dalla 40 alla 31 , ecco un’altra bella decina di dischetti da ascoltare… 30. The Rapture “In the grace of your love” Genere : indie dance Provenienza : New York City, USA In classifica perché : qualcuno li aveva etichettati come meteora della scena electro-punk di primi anni zero e qualcun altro li conosce solo per “Echoes”, sigla della serie Misfits, ma con questo nuovo album i Rapture dimostrano di avere un sacco di cartucce a disposizione, unendo ritmi danzerecci e grandi canzoni ...