Now Streaming: New CDs from Aimee Man, Dinosaur Jr., Amanda Palmer, Band of Horses, & More

The Fall parade of hot new albums streaming continues this week, headlined by releases from Aimee Mann, Dinosaur Jr., Band of Horses, The Raveonettes, Amanda Palmer, Grizzly Bear, The Sea and Cake, and more. [JUST ADDED: the new album by the Corin Tucker Band, the second release by the former Sleater-Kinney member.]



It's good to see a new release from Aimee Mann, and the video for the title track from "Charmer" (directed by Tom Scharpling, above) is lots of fun, starring Laura Linney as a Mann body double that the singer sends out on tour.

As you've no doubt heard, Amanda Palmer's "Theatre Is Evil" is the release she funded by raising more than a million dollars on Kickstarter. If you signed up, you may be getting all kinds of swag from Palmer, or (like me) you just kicked in one dollar, which nevertheless gets you a free digital download of the entire album. So what's it sound like? Find out by listening on Spinner below.

As always, check the individual sites for more releases (especially from Spinner, which typically has at least a couple of dozen new albums each week).

CBC:
"Mirage Rock" by Band of Horses

Stereogum:
"Kill My Blues" by the Corin Tucker Band

KCRW Album Preview: 
"The Runner" by The Sea and Cake

NPR First Listen:
"Charmer" by Aimee Mann
"I Bet on Sky" by Dinosaur Jr.
"Shields" by Grizzly Bear

Spinner.com's Listening Party:
"Theatre Is Evil" by Amanda Palmer & The Grand Theft Orchestra
"Observator" by The Raveonettes
"Negotiations" by The Helio Sequence
"Palindrome Hunches" by Neil Halstead
"Butter" by Turbo Fruits
"Scorpion" by Will Johnson
"A Tear in the Eye Is a Wound in the Heart" by Black Prairie
"We Were Always Loyal to Lost Causes" by The Dandelion War
"Grow Up" by Mister Loveless
"Inner Classic" by Snowblink

Music Notes: Download New Corin Tucker Song, Muse Goes for Gold, Free Williamsburg Concerts, & More

Here's a roundup of news from around the music world: new songs, free concerts, & various other things.

* Corin Tucker of Sleater-Kinney has a new song out, "Groundhog Day," and you can download it here, (via Consequence of Sound and Pitchfork). It's the lead-off track from the group's forthcoming second album, "Kill My Blues" (cover below) which will come out on Sept. 18th on Kill Rock Stars.

Album cover of the second full-length from the Corin Tucker Band.

* Muse has also released a new song, "Survival," which has been tapped as the official song of the 2012 London Olympics (listen below). You're going to be hearing it everywhere; get used to it now.



* The schedule for free concerts at the Williamsburg waterfront have been released, and there are three solid shows:
July 19th: Pretty Good Friends with Eugene Mirman and special musical guest OK Go
August 18th: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings with Antibalas
Sept. 7th: Bob Mould (performing Sugar's "Copper Blue" as well as songs from his new album, "Silver Age," as well as tunes from Husker Du, Sugar, and his solo career).

The shows take place at Williamsburg Park at N. 12th St. and Kent Ave. See Free Williamsburg for more information on free and ticketed concerts and links to buying tickets.

* Mumford & Sons announced summer tour dates, and they're coming to Hoboken on August 1st. They'll be playing at Pier A park, and tickets are $55 (but have no additional fees). For that price, I'll wait to see if there's a good opening act on the bill. Tickets go on sale here on Friday the 29th (presale is the 28th).

See here for tickets for all other summer Mumford shows.

Review: Wild Flag Plays Bowery Ballroom (Photos)

Wild Flag: Rebecca Cole, Mary Timony, Carrie Brownstein (not visible: Janet Weiss on drums).

The CMJ Music Marathon kicked off at Noon yesterday, but for me it began at about 9:30 p.m. when Eleanor Friedberger took the stage at Bowery Ballroom. She and her band played a fine set of catchy tunes, a good warm-up for the main event, Wild Flag.

I've long been a fan of Sleater-Kinney and of Mary Timony's various musical efforts (Helium and her own band), so I already liked the songs on their self-titled debut album—which sound like, well, a blend of S-K and Helium. The good news is that Wild Flag has all the energy and excitement that made Sleater-Kinney one of my all-time favorite acts to see live (not surprising, since Wild Flag features two members of S-K).

Eleanor Friedberger at Bowery Ballroom last night.

Eleanor Friedberger and band.

Mary Timony, with Janet Weiss in background.

Carrie Brownstein in a more restrained moment.

 Carrie Brownstein jumped all over the stage as in her S-K days, with her now-familiar windmill guitar flourishes and leg kicks. Her Sleater-Kinney bandmate, drummer Janet Weiss, was as always notable for her solid, powerful playing. I'd never seen Mary Timony live before, but she matched Brownstein for guitar chops and energy, though in a less flamboyant style.

One of the downsides of seeing a brand-new band on its first tour is that it doesn't have a large catalog of its own songs to play. Wild Flag played most if not all of its debut album, including extended versions of "Glass Tambourine" and of "Racehorse" (which ended the regular set). The band chose covers of two '70s punk classics for its encore: Television's "See No Evil" and Patti Smith's "Ask the Angels."

It's an odd coincidence perhaps that Wild Flag is staging its first full-fledged tour during CMJ this year, and a year ago the third member of Sleater-Kinney, Corin Tucker, made her first tour with her new band at last year's CMJ.

Having played three shows in the NYC area in four days (Bell House, Maxwell's, and now Bowery Ballroom),  Wild Flag continues its inaugural tour in Europe. It will return to tour the U.S. in spring 2012. (See the latest Wild Flag tour schedule.)

Music News: Screaming Females Interview, More on Corin Tucker, LimeWire Shutdown Ordered, Sony Pulls Plug on Cassette Walkman

"Castle Talk," the new Screaming Females album.

Some random notes on music and technology from all over:

* New Brunswick, NJ's Screaming Females were featured on public radio the other day. There was an interview with singer Marissa Paternoster, who talked about her own musical roots and the thriving underground music scene in New Brunswick. You can stream a couple of Screaming Females songs at the link. I have just missed seeing the band a few times now, most recently Saturday when they played a CMJ showcase with Corin Tucker.

* Speaking of Tucker, I've written a couple of times about the former Sleater-Kinney member and her new band. You can read more about Corin Tucker and her work in a couple of recent articles, one in the Village Voice and another in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Among other things, you'll learn about the songs she wrote for the "Twilight" movies (that didn't get used).

* A U.S. federal judge ordered the shutdown of the LimeWire file-sharing service Tuesday, granting the request made by the music industry. The judge said that LimeWire engaged in a "massive scale of infringement" and that record companies have suffered "irreparable harm." One article points out that it's not clear if LimeWire is required to just stop distributing new software, or disable software currently in use.

* Sony has announced it will stop selling the Walkman portable cassette player in Japan in June. Folks in the U.S. can will still be able to buy the iconic music player, though; Sony says it will keep manufacturing the units in China for the U.S. and other markets.

Weekend Recap: Corin Tucker Steps Out at Maxwell's; Muse Puts on a Rock Show at The Rock

This weekend I saw concerts by two very different acts in two settings that couldn't be further apart. But both shows were very enjoyable: The Corin Tucker Band at Maxwell's in Hoboken and Muse at Newark's Prudential Center (a.k.a. The Rock).


Tucker, part of the much-loved past (and probably future) trio Sleater-Kinney, is on her first tour with her own band and a new album, emerging after taking several years off to raise her children. She headlined an early CMJ showcase at Maxwell's, playing tunes from TCTB's new album "1,000 Years." It was a high-energy set, often capturing the power of S-K.

Corin Tucker and Sara Lund of The Corin Tucker Band at Maxwell's on Saturday. 

If you're a fan of Sleater-Kinney or Tucker, you'll want to catch The Corin Tucker Band at Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday, Oct. 26th. Opening are Darren Hanlon and Hungry Ghost, which features Sara Lund, the drummer in TCTB.

The British trio Muse played Newark Sunday night and put on an old-fashioned rock show spectacle, complete with lasers, individual stages that moved up and down, and giant confetti-filled "eyeball" balloons bouncing through the crowd.

From its opening song, Muse made it clear that Prudential Center fans were in for a rock spectacle.

Although Muse is a huge international success I hadn't heard many songs by them; I went to the show partly to check them out and partly to see the opener, Metric, one of my favorite bands of recent years. (Metric played only half an hour, but it was well worth showing up early to see them.)

Matthew Bellamy takes a turn at the piano.

Muse during its finale at the Prudential Center Sunday.

Special effects aside, Muse put on a very enjoyable show. They play catchy rockers that are often reminiscent of Radiohead, mixing elements of alt rock with prog rock and other genres. I've heard that Jimi Hendrix was an influence on guitarist and singer Matthew Bellamy, and at one point he even played  "The Star-Spangled Banner" solo on his guitar. Muse played songs from its latest album "The Resistance" as well as previous works.

Although most live music I see these days is in clubs or small- to medium-sized venues, it's fun to see an old-style extravagant arena-rock show, and Muse certainly delivered.

Saturday: Highlights for the CMJ Music Marathon's Busy Final Night

Above: John Paul Pitts and the rest of Surfer Blood play a CMJ showcase at Bowery Ballroom Saturday night. Photo: Nishkid64

The CMJ Music Marathon has come down to its final day (and very long night); here are some highlights of shows taking place late this afternoon and tonight. (In non-CMJ musical events, Muse plays Nassau Coliseum, with Metric opening.)

For details on the performers and venues, check the official CMJ music schedule for today or the Oh My Rockness schedule.

* Surfer Blood, Neon Indian, DOM, Wild Nothing, Lower Dens, Lia Ices, Lord Huron, Fake Problems, Braids, Ma Mentor, The Static Jacks - Bowery Ballroom, 5 p.m.

* Maddy Wyatt, Care Bears on Fire, Moss, Gary Lucas & Gods and Monsters, Quintus - Bowery Poetry Club, 6 p.m.

* Me First & the Gimme Gimmes, None More Black, Teenage Bottlerocket, Smoke or Fire, Dead To Me, The Flatliners, Cobra Skulls - Music Hall of Williamsburg, 6:30 p.m.

* School of Seven Bells, Asobi Seksu, Cults, Big Freedia, French Horn Rebellion, Bikini, Royal Bangs, Superhumanoids, Dominique Young Unique, The Chain Gang of 1974, The Good Natured, Delicate Steve - Santos House Party, 7 p.m.

* The Corin Tucker Band, Screaming Females, Hungry Ghost - Maxwell's, Hoboken, 7:30 p.m.

* Xeno & Oaklander, Braids, Gobble Gobble, Buke and Gass, L'Atra, Acrylics, The Tony Castles - Cameo Gallery, 8 p.m.

* First Aid Kit, The Loom - Joe's Pub, 11:30 p.m.

Free Streaming: New Album from Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker

Above: The Corin Tucker band, left to right: Corin Tucker, Seth Lorinczi, and 
Sara Lund
.

For a while in the late 1990s my favorite band was Sleater-Kinney, the Portland, Oregon power pop punk trio that made more high-energy rock and roll noise than you'd think was possible from three young ladies.

The band didn't so much break up in 2006 as go on one of those "indefinite hiatus" breaks we often hear about in rock. While it's premature to talk of a Sleater-Kinney reunion, the good news is that singer and guitarist Corin Tucker is back with her first solo album since the S-K days.

You can stream the album, "1,000 Years" by the Corin Tucker Band, for free below courtesy of NPR Music until its release date on Oct. 5th.



Many of the tunes are more mellow than Sleater-Kinney songs, but there are definitely some rockers on the album. And Tucker's voice—that voice!—is still there, singing softly one moment and shrieking the next.

New can find Corin Tucker Band tour dates from their webpage at the Kill Rock Stars website (they're on the road starting Oct. 7th). There you can also get a free MP3 of their song "Doubt" and find bios of the band (another trio). Fans in the New York area: the band plays at Maxwell's in Hoboken on Oct. 23rd and at New York's Bowery Ballroom on the 26th.

Now what about that possible Sleater-Kinney reunion? The NPR article accompanying their post of the Corin Tucker Band online stream says: "A reunion seems more or less inevitable... and in preparation, all three members are re-acclimating themselves to the spotlight."

In a recent Paste Magazine interview Tucker says that she hopes there will be a Sleater-Kinney reunion and thinks it will happen, and Brownstein echoed those feelings in Paste last Spring.

So what have the members of Sleater-Kinney been up to on hiatus? Tucker has been raising two kids, Carrie Brownstein has been working on a TV comedy series about Portland, Oregon for IFC and blogging for NPR, and drummer Janet Weiss is still performing in her duo Quasi, and also working with The Jicks (the latest band of Stephen Malkmus).

Here's a video of Sleater-Kinney performing "Jumpers," from their most recent album "The Woods," on David Letterman:

Music News: Jimmy Dean Dies; New Pixies Tour Dates; Corin Tucker to Release Solo Album; More

Above: Frank Black and The Pixies are performing their classic "Doolittle" album live on tour again this September. Photo: Simon Fernandez.

Bonnaroo has ended and the cleanup has begun in Manchester, Tennessee, but the music world keeps turning. Some stories that are new and of interest:

* Country Hall of Famer Jimmy Dean dies: the songwriter best known for the song "Big Bad John," and later for the brand of sausage that bears his name, passed away on June 13th. He was 81. In addition to his singing, songwriting, and performing, he also was a TV pioneer, and his 1960s who brought country music to a wider audience.

* The Pixies announce new "Doolittle" tour dates: After their successful tour last Fall playing the full "Doolittle" album in honor of its 20th anniversary, the Pixies are doing it again with 11 dates this September. The tour will visit Philadelphia, Nashville, Atlanta, Kansas City, Tulsa, Dallas, Houston, Austin, Mesa, Las Vegas, and San Diego.

* Sleater-Kinney's Corin Tucker readies solo album & tour: She took four years off of music to be a mom, but Corin Tucker is planning a return to music with a group called The Corin Tucker Band. The so-far-untitled album (on S-K's old label, Kill Rock Stars) has an Oct. 5 release date, and Tucker plans five live shows not too far from her home or Portland, Oregon.

* KCRW offers World Cup music playlist: You don't have to be a soccer/football fan to enjoy this fun world music playlist. It features one streaming tune representing each country in the 32-team World Cup draw, handily arranged by tournament grouping. You'll find BLK JKS (South Africa), Jorge Drexler (Uruguay), Fela Kuti (Nigeria), and Quadron (Denmark).