Nicki Bluhm’s sophomore album, Driftwood, shows an impressive expansion of Nicki’s natural talent and is well into its second pressing. The sounds range from the AM magic of Linda Ronstadt to the charming duets of Johnny and June Cash to smokey Memphis soul. Since Driftwood‘s release, Nicki has become the “It Girl” of the San Francisco music scene — performing with her band, The Gramblers; as a duo with her husband Tim; and as a guest artist with an array of revered performers. Her warm, strong voice and striking presence have undeniable appeal, confirmed by her sensational performances and rousing reception from music lovers at every show.
Jan 14: Fox Theater – Boulder, CO
Jan 15: Belly UP – Aspen, CO
Jan 17: Sheridan Opera House – Telluride, CO
Jan 18: Sheridan Opera House – Telluride, CO 1
Jan 20: 320 South – Breckenridge, CO
Jan 21: Pac 3 – Carbondale, CO
Jan 24: Pink Garter – Jackson, WY
Jan 25: Whiskey Jacques – Ketchum, ID
Jan 26: Top Hat – Missoula, MT
Jan 27: Whiskey Jack’s – Big Sky, MT
Jan 28: The Filling Station – Boseman, MT
Jan 29: John’s Alley – Moscow, ID
Feb 2: SLO Brewing Co. – San Luis Obispo, CA
Feb 3: Moe’s Alley – Santa Cruz, CA
Feb 4: Mystic Theater – Petaluma, CA
Feb 5: Humboldt Brews – Arcata, CA
Feb 8: SoHo – Santa Barbara, CA
Feb 9: Canyon Club – Agoura Hills, CA
Fen 10: The Troubadour – Los Angeles, CA
Feb 11: The Belly Up Tavern – Solano Beach, CA
Feb 12: Coach House – San Juan Capistrano, CA
While Robinson is most known as a member of the Grammy award-winning, old-time African-American string band the Carolina Chocolate Drops, his passions are not limited to any single field.With this release, Justin keeps one foot firmly planted in the folk tradition & folk instrumentation while taking a bold step forward. Bones for Tinder paints a much more vivid picture of this eclectic individual than his work in the Carolina Chocolate Drops ever did.
Matthew Dear Headcage Ghostly International Genre: Electronic : Indie UPC: 804297815107 Territories: Americas Release Date: 1.17.12
Matthew Dear’s EP, Headcage, stands as a testament to the New Yorker’s work as a relentless songwriter, producer and in a new light, collaborator. Working with other producers and vocalists as well as mixing/tracking at Nicolas Vernhes’ famed Rare Book Room studio has lent Headcage an openness and poise to the four songs presented here. The vision found in this EP is a likely harbinger for things to come from Dear.
Once again we’ve opened up our annual Best Of lists to all IODA employees and received submissions from many different departments! The guidelines were simple; choose your top 5 IODA-distributed releases that came out in 2011. Enjoy the selections and be sure to hit the jump for the rest of the lists and lots of free Promotracks from these great releases.
Corey Sheridan – Client Manager: Tycho – Dive [Ghostly International]
Oddisee – Rock Creek Park [Mello Music Group]
Panda Bear – Tomboy [Paw Tracks]
Other Lives – Tamer Animals [TBD Records]
Kool and Together – Original Recordings 1970-77 [Heavy Light Records]
Richard Leach – Head of UK Client Management:
Driver Drive Faster – Open House [Akoustik Anarkhy]
Amebix – Sonic Mass [Easy Action / Amebix Records]
Kuedo – Severant [Planet Mu]
Damu – Unity [Keysound]
Saul Williams – Volcanic Sunlight [Columbia / SME France]
Thorsten Sideboard – Systems Administrator:
Gold-Bears – Are You Falling In Love? [Slumberland Records]
Kids On A Crime Spree – We Love You So Bad [Slumberland Records] Girls Names – Dead To Me [Slumberland Records]
Veronica Falls – Veronica Falls [Slumberland Records]
Spectrals – Bad Penny [Slumberland Records]
Elijah Carroll – Marketing Coordinator: Typhoon – A New Kind Of House [Tender Loving Empire]
Hassaan Mackey, Apollo Brown – Daily Bread [Mello Music Group]
Beans – End It All [anticon]
Benny Sings – Art [Dox Records]
Robin Bacior – Rest Our Wings [Consonants & Vowels Recordings]
Christophe Le Breton – IODA France:
Magazine – No Thyself [Wire-Sound]
Dark Dark Dark – Wild Go [Melodic]
City Slickers – Still Smokin’ Cigarettes & Tellin’ Lies [Brick Records]
Toro Y Moi – Underneath The Pine [Carpark] Ana Popovic – Unconditional [Eclecto Groove Records]
Hit the jump for more staff “Best Of 2011″ and additional Promotracks!
As the push for new ways to monetize music intensifies several bands and labels have been exploring new ways to package releases. One such effort is the MDBC (Matthew Dear Black City) Totem from Matthew Dear and his label Ghostly International. Journalist Rob Walker picks up on this trend and the MDBC Totem in a recent NY Times article titled “Consumed – Band-Branded Merchandise Gains Momentum.” Excerpt from the article below:
“…Ghostly International, announced the latest release from the electronic artist and D.J. Matthew Dear. “Black City” is available on CD, vinyl and in the form of a $125 “sculptural representation of the themes explored” by Dear’s music. Ghostly International calls the object the MDBC Totem, and it looks like a spooky, monolithic building, about seven inches high and made of bonded aluminum finished with a “gun-metal patina.” Conceived by Dear and Will Calcutt, a Ghostly designer, and created by the New York design firm Boym Partners, it’s available in an edition of 100. Each is inscribed with a code giving buyers access to the music in digital form (download or stream), including a bonus track.
The totem is hardly a tchotchke, and the Ghostly founder, Samuel Valenti IV, isn’t making merchandise the centerpiece of his label. But this is one strategy, he argues, for “imbuing the aura of music onto an object.” He’s planning more such releases, and on some level the effort seems to be as much a statement about the future of music and value in general as it is about Dear’s work. Nine Inch Nails and Pixies, among others, sold lavish box sets that included DVDs and lush books in limited editions, and Valenti suggests the MDBC Totem takes another step toward responding to “the reality of a post-format world.” Ghostly’s site announces: “The totem is a physical format for cloud-based listening, an acknowledgment of two seemingly irreconcilable notions: the need for a tangible representation of music and a future in which music is utterly ethereal.”
The MDBC Totem’s were made by artisan sculptors and cast in bonded aluminum. Check out the process captured in video form below:
Depending on whom you ask, Matthew Dear is a DJ, a dance-music producer, an experimental pop artist, a bandleader. He co-founded both Ghostly International and its dancefloor offshoot, Spectral Sound. He’s had remixes commissioned by The XX, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Spoon, Hot Chip, The Postal Service, and Chemical Brothers; he’s made mixes for the Fabric mix series and Get Physical’s Body Language. He maintains four aliases (Audion, False, Jabberjaw, and Matthew Dear), each with its own style and distinct visual identity. He straddles multiple musical worlds and belongs to none—and he’s just hitting his stride.
Matthew Dear’s 2003 full-length Ghostly debut, Leave Luck to Heaven, is a suite of sparse, wickedly funky house laced with Dear’s deep, distinctive vocals, and includes the much-loved single “Dog Days” (voted one of Pitchfork’s Top 100 Songs of the Decade). The record was met with rapturous acclaim from both the dance-music establishment and the critical press, including a four-star review in Rolling Stone. Dear’s 2007 follow-up, Asa Breed, is a considerable departure from Heaven’s dancefloor excursions, incorporating the polyrhythms of Afrobeat, the irreverent pop sensibilities of Brian Eno, and the austere beauty of Krautrock. More four-stars reviews followed (Q and Mojo magazines), and Dear subsequently began touring with a live three-piece band, Matthew Dear’s Big Hands, in which he acted as frontman, commanding the stage with a Bryan Ferry-like swagger and a gentleman’s grace.
Today, Matthew Dear finds himself in a unique position. His highly anticipated fourth album, 2010’s Black City, is the culmination of years of hard work and experimentation, a darkly playful sound-world that envelops the listener like the arms of a malevolent lover. After over a decade of exploring pop’s outer limits, Matthew Dear now inhabits a rarefied corner of the musical universe: no longer tethered to any one genre, respected by his peers, and blessed with a bottomless well of creative energy. Now is Matthew Dear’s moment, and it sounds like nothing else. Look for the album to drop August 17, and check out this sick teaser and promotrack while you wait!
Artist: Matthew Dear Title: Black City Label: Ghostly International Genre: Electronic : Alternative UPC: 804297812007 Territory: Americas Digital Release Date: 08.03.10
“If you’ve followed Matthew Dear over the years, then you know he doesn’t like to stay in one place for very long. Even as a primarily electronic artist in the early 2000s, Dear hopped from label to label, switched aliases often, and made everything from steely microhouse to harder Detroit techno. But his biggest departure was 2007′s Asa Breed, the record where he stepped out from behind the decks and reached for the mic. Black City is a consolidation of the strengths displayed through his career, and could be his best record to date.” -Pitchfork.com
The accolades for Matthew Dear’s new LP Black City just keep rolling in. Following a Best New Music nod from Pitchfork for the lead single “Little People (Black City),” the popular online publication gave a Best New Music tag to the album as well. With positive reviews pouring in from many other publications, blogs and reviewers it’s clear that Black City is a critical success!
“Captivating distractions are everywhere within the confines of the titular Black City of Matthew Dear’s fourth full length album. The man who makes the techno world shake under aliases Audion, False and Jabberjaw, uses his given name for releases that seem to continuously grow more adventurous and approachable, and this latest effort finds him at his best on all fronts.” -URB.com
Nicki Bluhm
“Before You Loved Me” (mp3)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
Buy at Amazon MP3
More On This Album
