The Times New Viking Music Festival Weekend Express made a brief stop by our offices on Friday to drop off some new tunes and create some artwork on Patrick’s floor. Both of these bits of news (and the video below) should excite you (or at least ignite another limited edish 7″ thread on the BB).

Mission Of Burma, performing “Learn How” from ‘Vs.’, Pitchfork Festival, Friday, July 18.

We’d heard Sunday night that Matador Direct’s table at Pitchfork had generated a few thousand dollars in merchandise sales, truly excellent news as we’d decided to put every penny towards a very deserving charity (The Ronald McKugelberg House For Kids Who Buy Too Many Records On eBay).

However, Monday morning, after our intrepid crew returned from Chicago, we’re left trying to determine how they’ve only brought home $27.50 and a strongly worded letter from management of the Red Roof Inn banning our company from ever using their facilities again.

Dean, Sara, would you care to explain?

a solo rendition of “Daylight Out” from the upcoming LP/CD ‘Here With Me’, as captured in Chris Lombardi’s office.  I don’t know how many of you have ever been held captive in Chris’ office, but I think it can safely be called a minimum security prison.

We’re happy to unveil “Hologram Buffalo” - (mp3), the first legally-leaked track from the forthcoming Brightblack Morning Light LP/CD ‘Motion To Rejoin’ (September 23). The 2nd Matador album (and 3rd overall) from the ‘Bama/Arcata, CA spawned / New Mexico-based duo of Rachael Hughes and Nathan Shineywater is one of the more all-encompassing listening experiences you’ll have this year or any other.  There’s no bin in your record store marked “understated intensity”, but perhaps there oughta be.  Calling Brightblack Morninglight “America’s finest psychelic/soul/dub/folk/experimental band” is a rather trite way of dealing with the enormity of an album this beautiful and haunting, but that’s what do around here, we deal in slogans.  Theirs is a carefully crafted hybrid  that sounds as instantly familiar as it is unprecedented, and in ‘Motion To Rejoin’, they might well have conjured the perfect Saturday night and Sunday morning album all on the same disc.

We encourage our friends in Denver area (and even people we’re ambivalent about) to attend Brightblack Morning Light’s performance at the Larimer Lounge on August 8, with support provided by William Fowler Collins.  Additional North American tour dates will be confirmed shortly.

This is what happens when the Memphis music scene stops being polite and starts getting real.  Jay - as always - plays the voice of reason.

OK, perhaps that’s overstating things a tad. But Jeff (above, right) can be heard this coming Monday on Viva Radio , July 21 at 2pm EST 12pm EST. This is your big chance to explore the inner workings of this quality individual’s vast brain. On top of that, he’ll be making some calls to American Apparel stores. For prank purposes, I mean. Not to see if they have any job openings.

Lots to say, people, lots.  I totally heart Milwaukee.  Previously, I’d been to this fine city only once to play and had such a great time.  I wondered if it was a fluke.  I now know it was no fluke - Milwaukee may just be the finest place on Earth.

But let’s get to the record store juice, shall we?

I visited Atomic Records and had a lovely chat with Sahan.

JO’C: How long have you worked here?

Sahan: One year.

JO’C: What did you have for lunch?

Sahan: A baked potato.

JO’C: Yum, that sounds good. What’s your favorite place to eat in Milwaukee?

Sahan: Classic Slice.

JO’C: What’s the best music venue in Milwaukee?

Sahan: NOT The Rave.

JO’C: Oh shit! Is there a good music scene here? What are some good local bands?

Sahan: Yeah, I’d say there is. Malachi, Get Rad, Call Me Lightning, Brief Candles. Those are some of the best.

JO’C: Cool, I’ll check them out. What are your favorite new releases?

Sahan: Gregor Samsa - Rest and the Atlas Sounds‘ record.

JO’C: Are you going to any of the big festivals down in Chicago this summer?

Sahan: No, I was gonna go to Pitchfork, but I’m not now. I AM going to see My Bloody Valentine in September.

JO’C: I think that’s a much better choice. Good work.
I really like Milwaukee. Should I move here?

Sahan: Yes.

JO’C: Anything else you’d like to add?

Sahan: Yes, I am not 15…I’m actually 22.

Atomic is awesome. Sahan gave me a great Atomic Records t-shirt, and I bought Aretha Franklin’s I Never Loved a Man…on cd so I could listen in the car. And a $2 Deee-Lite single with some rad re-mixes. I also got the new Magnet magazine…which has a really fucking awesome new Matador ad in it. Really. To top it off - Sahan came to the show that night at the Cactus Club - which was the best show so far I think. I could go on and on, but unfortunately, I have to get in my rented Chevy Impala and drive to Minneapolis now.

Love,
JO’C

Mission Of Burma’s start-to-finish performance of ‘Vs.’, live from Chicago’s Pitchfork Music Festival, will be webcast today at 7pm EST. Who knows what you’ll see this time? Springa at the side of the stage? Closeups of Bob Weston’s hands? I’m gonna have my view blocked by a combination of trees, tall people and road cases, but you can tell me what it looked like on the computer the next time I see you.

Photography by Miwa Okumura.  I’m pretty sure the guy on the far right is checking his voice mail (as opposed to sticking his fingers in his ears).  Not shown : Nate Dogg, Chris Martin.

As many of you are aware, the preorder process for Jay Reatard 7″ #4 turned into a nightmare for you and for us. First, on Monday, the preorder accidentally went live at 1:30 PM, 90 minutes earlier than was announced. Early orders poured in, and since this seemed unfair to those who were waiting until 3:00 PM to order, we canceled those orders and started the process again at 3. However, due to a rule at our credit-card processing company that we had never had reason to encounter before, anyone who ordered for a second time on the same card got a duplicate/fraud message, and were not allowed to complete the order. In addition, the rush of orders at 3 was so intense that the server slowed down to a crawl, and many people were not able to complete their orders at all.

In light of all this we decided to redo the order at 3 PM on Tuesday. We canceled all orders for a second time, got with our credit card processing company to shorten the timeout period for duplicate orders, and got with our ISP to prepare for an onslaught of traffic at 3.

However we were not prepared for the amount of traffic we did get yesterday - over 10,000 unique visitors at 3 PM, and the server once again slowed to a crawl or worse, leaving many people out in the cold, disgusted, and fed up with Matador - understandably. (For comparison’s sake, the entire Matador website usually gets 8,000 unique visitors per day.) We’re still not clear whether the publicity resulting from the previous two preorders led to the increase in visitors, or whether this was some kind of denial of service attack from a disgruntled customer.

In any event, we have collated orders from everyone who ordered successfully the first OR second time with those who ordered successfully the third time, and we are filling orders for everyone who got a successful order confirmation from us, whether it was cancelled or not.

We’d lke to offer apologies for all the drama and hassle, but we’ve been apologizing non-stop and that’s not what you guys want - you want an efficient order process, and that’s what we pledge to offer in the future. It’s going to be even harder to buy singles #5 and #6 - that’s the whole point of this exercise after all - but it won’t be due to technical problems. We’ll have security, traffic, credit card processing and everything else sorted out and tested well in advance of the remaining 7″ preorders, and it will work the way it’s supposed to. I think that’s all we can say at this time.

Matador Records

Matmos, currently touring North America in support of their most recent LP/CD, ‘Supreme Balloon’, will be playing at Chicago’s Permanent Records on July 26. We hope you can attend. Not in lieu of the show at the Lakeshore Theatre or anything, but preferably, both.

Fucked Up rounded up their first stint across Europe with Matador in 2008 last night at London’s Water Rats in Kings Cross.

Set list!

Vivian Girls
Black Hats
Baiting The Public
Fate Of Fates
Crooked Head
Crusades
David Comes To Life
Invisible Leader
Police
Circling The Drain
Blaze Of Glory
Color Removal
Jacobs Ladder
Nervous Breakdown
Generation

A bit of a greatest hits session, with an encore to boot. Only one new track in there, but i’ve been assured that when they get back in August tracks from The Chemistry of Common Life will be making an appearance.

Some photos below taken at Supersonic festival on Sunday night… Now that was a whole other experience in itself. The Doom crowd didn’t know what was going on. As Damian rightly pointed out, probably the only band to make a joke on stage that weekend. (Also probably the most naked band of the festival.)

Photos courtesy of the wonderful Lucy Johnston.

It was 85 degrees at noon yesterday when I rolled up to Homer’s Music and Gifts on O Street in Lincoln, Nebraska.   The unsuspecting clerks working were Michael and Ted.

JO’C:  How long have you guys worked here?

Michael: About 6 or 7 months.

Ted:  6 years.

JO’C: Have you had breakfast/lunch yet?

Michael:  Yes, we had bagels from the bagel place next store.  That’s what we do every Sunday.

JO’C:  You’ve got your own Sunday routine…I like that.  What did you guys do last night?  I’m curious what young music-loving people like yourselves do on a Saturday night in Lincoln….

Ted:  Everclear watermelon.

JO’C:  Wow. Really?

Michael:   I watched Welcome to the Dollhouse and drank a couple of cases of beer with some friends.

JO’C:  That’s a lot of beer.  Ok…down to business…what’s your favorite new release?

Michael - Clinic - Do It!

Ted - Gravenhurst - The Western Lands

JO’C - Ok, cool….what are some of your favorite bands in general? Or your favorite?

Michael - There are too many to name.

Ted: Sonic Youth, The Start, Cocteau Twins

JO’C:  Tell me something about Lincoln and what its like to live here?

Ted: It’s comfortable.

Michael: It’s not so good for bikes though…you get called queer a lot.  But we ride our bikes everywhere anyway.  Other than that the people are cool.

JO’C : Anything else you’d like to add for the Matablog readers?

Michael:  Join the Space Station!

Ted:  Matador is a sweet label.

So, there you have it - Lincoln, Nebraska.

I’m gonna try to hit up Milwaukee and Des Moines later this week.  If anyone has recommendations…let me know!

xox

JO’C

Because of a number of unfortunate complications and a few key mess-ups during the Jay Reatard pre-order today, we will be redoing it Tomorrow, Tuesday July 15th, at 3PM EST. We’re very sorry to everyone about how frustrating this way today, and apologize for redoing it but at this point it’s the only fair way to get the records out.

Please see further explanation HERE

Pre-order HERE tomorrow at 3PM

Well, designed by both bands’ Kathryn Calder according to this helpful blurb at the Yellowbird Project. All profits from this snazzy, 100% organic cotton garment are headed towards the ALS Society of British Columbia.  

(Live in Ft. Worth, TX 6/27 - Photo c/o nffcnnr’s Flickr page)

In under two hours, WFMU will air a live performance from Shearwater on Irene Trudel’s show. Tune in at 4:00 PM (EST) at 91.1 FM in the tri-state or online at www.wfmu.org.

The appropriate answer to the question, “have you ever seen a woman naked?” would’ve been, “yes, but let’s not talk about your mom on television.” But that’s not to say it was handled poorly.

Steak is getting more and more expensive, but Ottomanelli is having a sale on all their aged beef at the moment… and the guy gave me an additional buck off on the scales for two strips (1 1/4″ thick). I had him leave a half-inch of the fat on all the way around.

Adam scattered salt on them and seared them in a cast-iron pan directly under the broiler for about 3 minutes on one side, 1 minute the other side. He cut them into slices and drizzled on the pan fat. They were absolutely delicious - bloody, musty, redolent of grass and corn.

We drank another Arbois red (actually from the sub-appellation of Arbois-Pupillin), a rustic poulsard. It handled the steak splendidly and was not troubled by the tomato salad.

Today is the first day of my 10 date midwest run with Son Ambulance.  Right now I’m sitting at The Old Mattress Factory or The Matt Bar and Grill as it says on my pint glass - eating some fish tacos and looking at 13 different large screen TVs showing baseball and golf.  

This afternoon I visited Antiquarium Records.   I got a used copy of Grizzly Bear’s Yellow House on CD for $4 and I spoke with Chelsea.

JO’C:  How long have you been working here?

Chelsea:  About 3 months.

JO’C:  What did you have for lunch today?

Chelsea:  A bagel.

JO’C:  What’s your favorite place to eat in Omaha?

Chelsea:  Amsterdam Falafel & Kebab on 50th Street.

JO’C:  That’s the 2nd time I’ve gotten a falafel joint recommendation in my 3 times asking this question of record store employees.  Hmm…. 

What’s your favorite local band?

Chelsea:  Box Elders  (Jeremiah of  Box Elders was hanging out behind the counter with his geetar).

JO’C:  What’s your favorite record of 2008 so far?

Chelsea:  Times New Viking!

JO’C:  Yes, I’ve heard of them somewhere.  No, I’m kidding - I love their record too.  To continue the Matador theme we have going here, what is your favorite Matador band of all time?

Chelsea:  Pavement!

JO’C:  Good choice.  

Anything else you’d like to add for the Matablog readers?

Chelsea:  Keep buying records and going to record stores!

JO’C:  Wise words.

I would like to note that this was a charming store with very nice people and lots of vinyl!  When I told Chelsea I was on Matador and what I was there to do, she remarked that she wasn’t cool enough for Matador - that I should wait for the owner to come back because he was cooler.  I just want Chelsea and everyone else to know…that they ARE cool enough for Matador.  Matador loves you.  And so do I.

xox

JO’C

PS. I’ll be doing some myspace blogging about the shows and such on my, uh, myspace page.

Shearwater will play a Free In-Store on Wednesday, July 16th at 7:00 PM at Fingerprints in Long Beach, CA.

The in-store will be sandwiched between a string of dates opening for Coldplay!

Also, this is a very special day for Fingerprints because July 16th is their 16 year anniversary! Sounds like a Super Sweet 16 Birthday Bash to me! (***Shearwater is not responsible for supplying a pimped out De Lorean with a big red bow)

Shearwater
Free In-Store
Wed. July 16th
7:00PM

Fingerprints Music
4612 E. 2nd St.
Long Beach, CA

RSVP to be on the guest list (562) 433-4996

(Shearwater, live in Philadelphia, PA, June 2008,photograph taken from countfeed’s Flickr page)

Sorry about the cake design, but this one was on sale.  Wishing you the happiest of 21st birthdays,  GC

(Live in Prague 6/18/08 - Photo via Félix Adorno’s Flickr page)

Tomorrow (Friday, July 11) at 11:00 AM (PST), Matmos stop by San Francisco’s KUSF for a live performance on the program “Hearts on Sleeves”. Bay Area residents can catch the program on terrestrial radio at 90.3 FM, while the rest can access a webstream online at www.kusf.org.

EDIT - Direct from Matmos:

“…We will improvise on Irwin’s show for your drive time pleasure. With Wobbly. Your car will shake. Your booty will clap. Your speakers will scratch their heads, wondering, why has no one pleasured me this way before?”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

(Shearwater, live in Fort Worth, TX, June 2008,photograph taken from nffcnnr’s Flickr page)

On the heels of their wildly acclaimed ‘Rook’ LP/CD, Shearwater will be following their short jaunt with Coldplay and additional U.S. dates with a headlining tour starting in late August. They’ll be joined by Merge Recordings Artists Wye Oak.

More dates will be confirmed soon.

Wed, Aug 27 Los Angeles Echo
Thu, Aug 28 San Francisco Great American Music Hall
Sat, Aug 30 Salt Lake City Urban Lounge
Sun, Aug 31 Denver Hi Dive
Mon, Sep 1 Albuquerque Launchpad
Wed, Sep 4 Austin Mohawk