The Black Heart Procession Spell It Out

San Diego, California's depressing and gloomy indie rock band The Black Heart Procession have lived on the dark side since late 1997 with no intension of breaking out from under the murk. However of the odd day the five piece band will surface to spread the gloom onto other via song and sound. With the release of their fifth full length album on May 9th entitled The Spell listeners can hear that the band is increasingly maturing yet still maintain the less then pleasurable music the most expect to experience from their sound system. Just listening to the samples that we got our hands you can't help but find yourself feeling isolated, depressed, and miserable, however there was still something there that had use wanting to hear the next track. From what we understand of their sound and style and from little exposure we have of the band if you enjoyed their last label Amore Del Tropico, then this new release is right up your lane. Below is a track entitled Not Just Words which can be found off the new album: Not Just Words The European Tour is on its way and it doesn't seem to stop. According to the bands website a North American tour announcement is also expected in the future. May 09th - Bologna, Italy May 10th - Rome, Italy May 11th - Marghera, Italy May 12th - Torino, Italy May 13th - Firenze, Italy May 14th - Rivolta, Mestre, Italy May 15th - Luzern, Switzerland May 16th - Zurich, Switzerland May 18th - Frankfurt, Germany May 19th - Koln, Germany May 20th - Camber Sands, UK May 22nd - Hamburg, Germany May 23rd - Amsterdam, Netherlands May 24th - Eindhoven, Netherlands May 25th - Groningen, Netherlands May 26th - Brussels, Belgium May 27th - Diksmuide, Belgium :: more :: Check out their MySpace page for additional track samples from the new album The Spell and another list of tour dates just as you would find from their website.

It seems that Neko Case is not out of gas from her current tour yet. According to Kati Llewellyn of Pitchfork she has extended her tour stops and will be busy until mid June. :: more :: Toronto, Ontario indie pop/rock band Pilate have just announced that they signed a deal with an American Label Wind-up Records. :: more :: Alex Kapranos is best known as the frontman for Franz Ferdiand is getting into more writing then just new songs. Apparently Alex is looking to publish a book and what do you know he likes to eat food too. :: more :: Rhino Records executives are really trying to milk everly last drop out of the die hard Jesus & Mary Chain fans. It looks their label will be re-releasing 5 albums by the british greats which will now include a DVD featuring 3 videos just to catch and grab more cash from those that have to have it. :: more ::

Coachella - Day One

Its Coachella weekend in Indio, California and there is a lot of great talent hitting the stages all day today and tomorrow. We can only wish that we were there experience everything that the music and arts festival has to offer, but it will not stop us from taking a step back and forward to see what some of these great artists that are making the Coachella festival a stop on their current schedule. Franz Ferdinand The Glasgow, Scotland band is fresh off a recent tour across Canada with Death Cab for Cutie. In fact, the played last night in Vancouver, British Columbia at the Pacific Coliseum, PNE grounds. As a headliner of the festival, you can expect a big crowd looking for a big show at Coachella. The New Amsterdams With a recent release of a new album entitled "story Like A Scar" on March 21st in their back pocket The New Amsterdams will be showing off their skills on the Coachella stage today. Following the show they will be taking a quick break before another tour around the United States and a trip to Vancouver, Canada start on May 19th. Watch for the Kansas City based indie rock band to spot in a neighborhood near you. Sigur Ros Iceland should be very proud of what Sugar Ros is doing around the world and how they are representing their great nation. Another trip to Coachella is in store for Jon Por Birgisson, Kjaran Sveinsson, Orri pall Dyrason and Georg Holm. Switzerland Canadian fans can now get excited because the band has confirmed that they will be playing at the Montreux Jass Festival on July 3rd. Eagles of Death Metal Primary players Jesse "the devil" Hughes and Josh "baby duck" Homme started out as high school friend now they are out to rock the crowd at Coachella. They will continue their ways on The Late Show with David Letterman on May 18th which will be followed by a quick tour in parts of the United States starting on May 27th in Houston, Texas. The Zutons The Liverpool, UK based band consisting of singer Dave McCabe, guitar Boyan Chowdhury, sax Abi Harding, bass Russ Pritchard and drums Sean Payne have a new album out in stores, their second, entitled Tired Of Hanging Around recently entered the UK album charts at number two. The guys have a tour planned starting in May in the United Kingdom. Sheffield this their first stop on May 4th, also known as 04-05-06. Cat Power The American singer/songwriter Charlyn Marie Marshall hit the Mojave Tent at the Coachella festival and should be packed with fans. If you're not able to catch her at the California music festival she has plans to travel to a number of limited cities in the United States following her set at Coachella, starting in Seattle, Washington on May 1st. Check out her MySpace site for other locations and dates. Ladytron We missed the Liverpool, UK based group when making a stop in Toronto last week and yet again we will miss them at Coachella. They have recently released a new EP in North America which features new mixes and b-side tracks, plus a film entitled Once Upon a Time in the East: Ladytron in China. If you would prefer to see them live they will have a couple of shows in California after the Coachella festival before head over to Europe for a number of stops. Check their tour schedule on their website for details.

Yeah Yeah Show Your Bones

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs from New York released their second Interscope Records album (third full CD), "Show Your Bones" today in North America (Release yesterday in the UK). Singer Karen O discribes the album name as "what happens when you put your finger in a light socket".

:: PopMatters (March 27, 2006) - "It's almost too good an album to be true." :: Pitchfork (March 27, 2006) - "...the album sounds guarded, with very little danger and too few moments of real urgency." :: The Village Voice (March 26, 2006) - "The Yeahs have circled back, in some ways, to their beginnings..." :: Rolling Stone (March 20, 2006) - "This album is, above all, a textural triumph, a quantum bounce..." :: The Observer (March 19, 2006) - "...is testament to the wisdom of waiting until you're good and ready." .

Scotlands pride and joy Franz Ferdinand has announced that they will be giving their fans a free copy of their next released single "Swallow Smile". Don't get too excited at this point as the free single is only for those in the Franz Ferdinand fan club as a special thanks for all their support. :: more ::

DJ Shadow fans should be preparing themselves for something "very different" from his next album. You can get a taste of his next release by previewing the track '3 Freaks' off the DJShadow website. Sometimes change is good. :: more ::

Happy Birthday to Perry Farrell, the frontman for the rock bands Psi-com, Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros. He was born born under the surname Bernstein in NewYork City on this date in 1959 (making him 47 years old). Along with band mates Ted Gardener and Marc Geiger he created the Lollapalooza festival as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction - it was a successful travelling festival until 1997. I personal had the pleasure to enjoy the festival in 1994 and 1995 in Toronto (Barrie) and will remember it forever (or until I lose my mind).