FN News Roundup: March 12, 2011

Hi! Have some news.

• (Hopefully not former) Sonic Youth axeman and generally great guy Lee Ranaldo's new album, Between the Times and the Tides, is out next Tuesday (3/20), but you can stream all of its goodness right now over at Rolling Stone. (RS) 
• Legendary Minutemen bassist and also generally great guy Mike Watt is publishing a new memoir this May entitled On And Off Bass. He'll also be celebrating the release of this inevitably awesome book with two parties in NY and LA, the local version of which will take place on May 5 at Le Poisson Rouge and feature him & Dinosaur Jr.'s J. Mascis and Murph performing as Hellride East (Slicing Up Eyeballs)
• Go see Garbage on tour! No, that pun will never get old, but you really ought to see Shirley Manson and the gang when they roll through the East Coast and Canada. The tour will include a stop at Webster Hall on May 22, with ticket info coming soon. (Garbage)
• Remember The Hives? They're back, in Pog form! Or more accurately, with a new album called Les Hives dropping on June 5 - check out its leadoff single "Go Right Ahead." (Stereogum) 
• Those Battles remixes we've been talking about are coming out as a full-on Dross Glop LP on April 17 via Warp. You'll also want to check out Battles drummer John Stanier and Black Moth Super Rainbow throw down a DJ set this Friday at The American Museum of Natural History's Rose Center - grab a ticket! (BrooklynVegan)

Fucking Nostalgic Presents... Magic Sundae: "King Kong Lives"

If you're a devoted Magic Sundae listener, then you should know that King Kong episodes are very special. Special because we utilize our massive King Kong sound system, which pumps out nothing but classic vinyl records with pristine sound quality. In this episode's case, appropriately titled "King Kong Lives," you can hear some incredible tunes by Pavement, T. Rex, Donovan, Sonic Youth, The Minutemen, New Order, The Fifth Dimension and much, much more. All chosen and mixed entirely live on the spot 100% with vinyl. Take a listen below, and below that find the playlist for last week's episode, "Firehead."





Fucking Nostalgic Presents... Magic Sundae: "Firehead" Playlist
New Face in Hell – The Fall
Future Reflections – MGMT

Missing – Beck

Desert Eagle – Ratatat

Humming – Portished

Sweet Dreams – Eurythmics

La Vie – Manu Chao

Who are the Brain Police – Mothers of Invention

Weird and Crazy Nights – Ralph Steadman and Hunter S. Thompson

No Looking – The Raincoats

Bombshell – Operation Ivy

Watch Song – Shellac

Fire in the Twilight – Wang Chung

Fascination Street – The Cure

Impromptu #4 in A-flat – Mitsuko Uchida - Franz Schubert

Flower’s Grave – Tom Waits

Love – John Coltrane

John McLaughlin – Thelonious Melodies

Little by Little – Radiohead

Greasy Heart – Jefferson Airplane

Truckin’ – Grateful Dead

Juaneco Y Su Combo – Vacilando Con Ayahuesca

YAY: Lee Ranaldo Is "Optimistic" About The Future Of Sonic Youth

You are our hero, Lee Ranaldo. More Williamsburg Waterfront shots here.

We've made no secret of the fact that we've been extremely worried about the future of Sonic Youth following the announcement of Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore's separation. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, however, guitarist Lee Ranaldo spoke about his upcoming solo album and dropped some extremely calming hints about what to expect from Sonic Youth - namely, likely no more shows in the near future but archival and other projects on tap.

The money quotes are below, and have done quite a bit to set us at ease for a little. We'll keep you posted as more concrete plans surface, because we love Sonic Youth and that's kinda what we do as a music blog.

Listen: Sonic Youth's First-Ever Live Recording From 1981

More photos and a review of Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront over here!

Holy weird coincidences, Batman. Apparently Thanksgiving week is the time when a bunch of YouTubers unearth a bunch of old, "lost," or otherwise rare tracks from our favorite nostalgic artists - first Radiohead, then Elliott Smith, and now Sonic Youth.

As Matador Press recently tweeted, "Untitled" was the band's first-ever recorded foray into the world of noise rock on which they would build a career that would have an indelible impact on modern music (and which is hopefully not over yet). It was captured lived during Noise Fest at NYC's White Columns in June 1981, and it sounds about as trippy and experimental as one would expect from the future masters of the genre. Check it out after the jump.

Watch What May Be (But Hopefully Isn't) The Final Sonic Youth Concert Ever

More photos and a review of their (hopefully not last) NYC show over here... 

We've all been closely watching for any updates on the fate of the legendary Sonic Youth since it was first announced that Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon had separated. To date, their short South American tour was the only thing the band had planned for the remainder of the year, with plans beyond that left uncertain.

Well as of last night, that South American tour came to a close with a 70-minute set at the SWU Music & Arts Festival in Sao Paolo, Brazil, and that set may just be the very last show Sonic Youth will ever play. (Hopefully not though.) Thankfully, YouTuber luiselma captured the TV broadcast of the set in its entirety for fans around the world to take in what might just be the end of one of the greatest bands in history.

Check out all three parts of the set below, along with a setlist. Having been to the most recent (but hopefully not last) NYC show this past summer, I can say with certainty that there will never be another band quite like Sonic Youth. Thanks to Slicing Up Eyeballs for the tip.

Lee Ranaldo Releasing A New Solo Album In March 2012

Lee covering Minutemen with Delicate Steve at Our Band Could Be Your Life

It's clear that things between the members of Sonic Youth, one of the greatest rock bands of our time, are a bit... awkward at the moment. While we continue to hope (pray) that the band will still have a concrete future ahead of them, guitarist Lee Ranaldo has today announced (via Matador) that he has a new solo record, called Between The Times And The Tides, coming out on March 20.

His first new solo record since 2008's Maelstrom From Drift, Ranaldo promises that Between will include some of his best work yet. And he'll be joined in this outing by Nels Cline, Alan Licht, John Medeski, bassist Irwin Menkin and Steve Shelley, with Jim O’Rourke and Bob Bert also making appearances. So yeah, it's pretty much guaranteed to be an interesting outing.

Having just played our area with Wild Flag, we'll be able to see Lee again on December 16 at Glasslands Gallery in Brooklyn. Grab tickets over here for sure.

2012 American Songbook Season Adds Thurston Moore, Merrill Garbus (tUnE-yArDs), & More

Check out more photos from Thurston Moore's Music Hall Of Williamsburg performance over here!

Known for its diverse array of performers and styles, Lincoln Center's celebrated American Songbook series is returning on January 12 to explore the best in American popular song across all genres. A couple of notable indie rock names on the roster, however, are Sonic Youth co-founder Thurston Moore (who we're kind of huge fans of here) as well as Future Nostalgia candidate Merill Garbus, a.k.a. tUnE-yArDs (who coincidentally enough covered Sonic Youth earlier this year). 

Thurston Moore will be rocking a solo acoustic set on February 2, while tUnE-yArDs will nab the February 9 slot at NYC's world-renowned music and arts center. Tickets are onsale beginning November 14 - check out the American Songbook website for further details on packages and the full lineup of artists for the month.

Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore anounce they are splitting up

Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront in August (more here)

Well... shit. Didn't see this one coming. According to a Matador rep (via Spin):

"Musicians Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore, married in 1984, are announcing they have separated. Sonic Youth, with both Kim and Thurston involved, will proceed with its South American tour dates in November. Plans beyond that tour are uncertain. The couple has requested respect for their personal privacy and does not wish to issue further comment."

Sad. I'm hoping that Sonic Youth show we caught in August wasn't the last ever New York City performance. We wish them both the best!

Watch The Trailer For 1991: The Year Punk Broke

Whoa, posting something that's not a music video (technically)! Way way back, we mentioned that the seminal rock documentary, 1991: The Year Punk Broke, would finally see a DVD release in honor of its 20th anniversary. Now its stars, Sonic Youth, have put out a trailer less than a week in advance of the release on September 13th. Soak up the amazing performances and associated goofiness below, and preorder it over at Sonic Youth's store.

Watch: Wild Flag -- "Romance" Official Video

Hope all of you in the States had a great holiday weekend (and that everyone else had a great weekend anyway). If you're already kinda over the workday, indie rock supergroup Wild Flag has a treat for you. Their official video for their self-titled album's first single, "Romance," premiered on Pitchfork this morning and features the band as office workers who throw on masks and have some fun on the town during their lunch break. It's kinda like Office Space but weirder and with fewer staplers, and Carrie Brownstein's acting makes me fiend for the next season of Portlandia to get here already.

Check out the video below, and you can listen to Wild Flag The Album over at NPR until its release date on September 13th via Merge. Looking like tickets to their shows at The Bell House on October 15th with Sonic Youth's Lee Ranaldo and October 18th at Bowery Ballroom with Eleanor Friedberger are sold out, but definitely find a way in if you can.

DVR Alert: Thurston Moore playing David Letterman 8/31

Thurston Moore @ Music Hall of Williamsburg in May (more here)

We're still sort of in shock over the mind blowing Sonic Youth show that went down in Brooklyn on Friday, and although it was a one-off show for the band (well, until November), frontman Thurston Moore has added some more solo dates to his schedule. Though there are no New York City dates as of yet, he will be playing Late Show with David Letterman on August 31 according to Sonic Youth's Twitter page, meaning he'll be in the area that night with nothing much to do. Something tells me that either a small scale show will be taking place, possibly at the Stone. All speculation, but tell me the gap in the tour schedule doesn't look awfully suspicious.

Check out Thurston Moore, Sonic Youth and Disappears' (Steve Shelley's other band) tour dates below, listen to Thurston's latest album Demolished Thoughts on Spotify, and watch his video for "Circulation," all below the jump...

Photos/Review: Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront

Sonic Youth @ Williamsburg Waterfront - August 12, 2011
Photos: Chris / Review: Chris & Colin Fitzgerald

The past few outdoor shows I've been to have been plagued by bad weather (both Levon Helm and They Might Be Giants got me soaked in the rain), so heading over to the Williamsburg Waterfront Friday night on one of the sunniest days of the summer was quite satisfying. Knowing that the night ahead of me would be seeing one of the best lineups of the season only made it better.

Opener Kurt Vile, who has become a Thurston Moore protege of sorts recently, battled the blaring sun in his eyes with his band The Violators, playing a short thirty minute set to a half empty venue. I've listened to Vile's Childish Prodigy and Smoke Ring For My Halo a few times over the past year, and though I always remembered really liking what I was hearing, nothing has really stuck in my head. Not that Vile is going for catchy, hum-in-your-head-all-day songs. His music truly catches you in the moment with his visceral landscapes of sound, the kind of songs you play on the road late at night and picture yourself getting into a fatal car accident. Really sort of dark, yet beautiful reverberant droning songs that make you contemplative in a way that's rarely achieved in indie music today. A great way to start the night.

Watch: Thurston Moore - "Circulation" (Official Video)

Via Matador Records

So yeah, it's a pretty safe assumption that we're huge fans of Thurston Moore and his latest solo album, Demolished Thoughts. We've reviewed it, seen him perform it live at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (and again at Other Music where we were literally a foot away from the man), and even watched him on late-night TV.

Now, via Stereogum and Matador Records' Matablog, we're happy to share the official video for one of my favorite tracks off of Demolished Thoughts, "Circulation." It's an awesomely trippy match for the song itself, and Thurston Moore says the video "was inspired by the free-spirit poet/artist girls of Northampton Massachusetts who would explode and levitate into expressionistic transcendence whenever cool records would spin by local DJs Bill Nace, Jake Meghinsky and, when asked (rarely) – T Moore hisself."

Check it out after the jump and see him on tour through the summer at the dates / locations below, as well as here in NYC on 8/12 at the Williamsburg Waterfront with an under-the-radar band called Sonic Youth.

Thurston Moore & Bob Mould Played Jimmy Fallon + Bonus Thurston Moore Videos from La Blogotheque

As you can tell by our recent posts, we're pretty big Thurston Moore fans here at Fucking Nostalgic. And as we mentioned last night on our Facebook page, Thurston stopped by Late Night With Jimmy Fallon last night to perform a live version of "Circulation" off of his excellent new album Demolished Thoughts. Check out the performance above, as well as a web-only exclusive cut of another standout song from the album, "Blood Never Lies," below.

Just Gimme Indie Rock! documentary needs your help

When I spoke to Lou Barlow last month, I asked him what he thought the connection was between the current indie scene and the underground indie movement he was a part of in the '80s. His response: "I just think it’s like one continuous thing. You know, we were what they are, which were young people synthesizing our influences and making music."

Oddly enough, the day I posted that interview was the same day documentary filmmaker Brad Katz launched his Kickstarter campaign to raise enough funds to bring Just Gimme Indie Rock! The Story of an Underground Uprising to the big screen. The film, which hopes to "be the first to connect the dots between these divergent eras of indie, revealing the single greatest rock and roll story never told," will feature artists over the past three decades, including Sonic Youth, Husker Du, Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr., Pavement, Elliott Smith... well, basically every artist we cover at Fucking Nostalgic will be covered in the film. So far, the project has raised close to $8,000 of its $75,000 goal, and currently has 63 days left to meet that goal. They need your help to bring this ambitious and guaranteed-to-be-amazing movie to life.

As of right now, the $75,000 goal is just "Phase 1 Financing" as a way to ramp up production, in which afterwards they hope to hit up traditional investors to complete the project. As an incentive to those who contribute, there are gifts one will receive depending on the amount they pledge. For example, a $10 pledge will get your name added to the website's list of contributors while a $10,000 contribution will give you producer-like access to shoots, interviews, festivals and premiers. No matter what you contribute, your help is clearly needed and appreciated.

Head over to the official Just Gimme Indie Rock! blog and read more about what the project is all about, and then check out the offiical Kickstarter campaign page to see exactly what you can contribute. Personally, I think the documentary is a story that needs to be told, and I'm really hoping they raise enough funds to make it happen. Fucking Nostalgic will be covering this project along the way, and we even hope to be a part of it on a grander scale.

Below, check out some footage that has already been shot for the documentary, including interviews with Lou Barlow, Stephin Merritt and the Submarines.

"Like" this post to win a copy of Thurston Moore's Demolished Thoughts

Thurston Moore's brand new solo album Demolished Thoughts comes out Tuesday, May 24th on Matador Records (if you haven't been paying attention, we've brought it up a lot). In support of the the release, Thurston will begin his tour tonight at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and tickets are still available. He will also play a free show at Other Music at 8pm on Monday, May 23rd at 8pm. Good luck to those who try to make it in.

If you're too low on cash to pick up a copy of Demolished Thoughts, or just feel like winning something, Fucking Nostalgic has a copy of the album on double LP vinyl to giveaway. All you have to do is head to our Facebook page and "like" this post. If you don't have a turntable, hang your head in shame (just kidding), but know that it's okay as the vinyl includes a voucher to download the album in mp3 format. A winner will be selected at random and contacted for shipping details. The contest ends at 11:59pm Monday night. Good luck!

In the meantime, you can listen to Demolished Thoughts in its entirety over at NPR and purchase it at iTunes. Below, take a look at the groovy inner vinyl artwork and the video for lead single, "Benediction."

Our Band Could Be Your Life tickets released

The extremely coveted, extremely important, and extremely fascinating book Our Band Could Be Your Life: Scenes from the American Indie Underground 1981-1991 celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. In tribute, Tiger Mountain Presents will be putting on a tribute show to the Michael Azerrad-penned book this Sunday, May 22nd at the Bowery Ballroom. Tickets were previously sold out but it appears as though some more have been released, so grab one while you still can. Below is the list of performers and the band they will be paying tribute to. It will be exciting to see these more contemporary acts take on some of my favorite bands ever. Special guests are to be expected…

Nat Baldwin, David Longstreth and Brian McOmber performing Black Flag
Delicate Steve performing the Minutemen
Citay performing Mission of Burma
Ted Leo performing Minor Threat
Grooms performing Husker Du
Titus Andronicus performing the Replacements
callers performing Sonic Youth
Dan Deacon performing the Butthole Surfers
St. Vincent performing Big Black
Wye Oak performing Dinosaur Jr
Buke & Gass performing Fugazi
White Hills performing Mudhoney
Yellow Ostrich performing Beat Happening

Very Special Guests Janeane Garofalo and Eugene Mirman will host the event.

Thurston Moore's Demolished Thoughts available on iTunes TODAY

Thurston Moore's new Beck-produced album, Demolished Thoughts is available on iTunes today, one week before it's official release next tuesday on cool blue vinyl (see above). Here's a tune from the album to whet your appetites.

Kurt Vile added to Sonic Youth & Wild Flag show on August 12th

Matador Records just announced on their Matablog that Kurt Vile & the Violators will be joining Sonic Youth and Wild Flag on the previously announced show at the Williamsburg Waterfront on 8/12. Kurt Vile seems to have struck a chord with ‘80s indie vets, touring recently with Dinosaur Jr’s J Mascis and playing a handful of dates with Thurston Moore solo on his current tour. Kim Gordon has been quoted as saying that Kurt Vile is her guilty pleasure, guilty because she listens to him too much. He is definitely awesome. Tickets for the show are still on sale.

Download a new track from Thurston Moore

Sonic Youth’s Thurston Moore has been a busy man since the ‘80s, and thirty years down the road he still shows no signs of slowing down. Aside from steadily releasing albums with SY (who play in Brooklyn in August) and curating shows at the Stone in Manhattan, he is currently prepping the release of his upcoming solo album, entitled Demolished Thoughts. And now, you can listen to a track off that album, “Circulation” over at Matador Records’ own Matablog.

Thurston will be touring with the great Kurt Vile & the Violators in July in support of Demolished Thoughts, but you can also catch him on a string of solo dates, including a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg on 5/20 (tickets still on sale), leading up to that tour. Full tour dates for Mr. Moore via Matablog are below.