Free Album Previews: Wild Flag, Tom Morello, & More; Throwing Muses Tix On Sale

Above: Album trailer for Wild Flag's self-titled album. Preview it free at the link below.

Just in time for their Fall tour of the East Coast, Wild Flag's self-titled album is available for free preview this week (its release date is Sept. 13th). This much-anticipated album features the talents of longtime indie rock women Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney), Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney and Quasi), Mary Timony (Helium and her solo work), and Rebecca Cole (The Minders).

Wild Flag will be playing in the New York City area in October at the Bell House, Maxwell's, and the Bowery Ballroom (all dates sold out). Other new albums available for free online streaming this week including what may be the last new release by Glen Campbell (who recently announced that he has dementia), albums by indie rockers Blitzen Trapper and Cymbals Eat Guitars, and a new release from Tom Morello, formerly of Rage Against the Machine.  

(Also of interest to indie rock fans: Throwing Muses will be returning to New York for a show at Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 16th. Tickets went on sale Sept. 1st at noon; get Throwing Muses Bowery Ballroom tickets here. See the full list of current Throwing Muses/Kristin Hersh tour dates.) 

NPR First Listen:
"Wild Flag" by Wild Flag
"We are the Tide" by Blind Pilot

KCRW Album Preview: 
"American Goldwin" by Blitzen Trapper
"Ghost on the Canvas" by Glen Campbell

AOL Music Listening Party: 
"World Wide Rebel Songs" by Tom Morello
"Coastal Grooves" by Blood Orange
"Lenses Alien" by Cymbals Eat Guitars

Spinner.com's Listening Party:

"Emperors Nightingale" by Stereo MCs
"If You're Young" by The Static Jacks

Concert Notes: Cheap Trick in Brooklyn Tonight, Black Eyed Peas Reschedule Central Park Show, & More

Tickets for Wild Flag at Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 18th are on sale now. Above, the band plays "Future Crimes" at South by Southwest 2011.

There's still plenty of punch left in the free summer concert season, and a slate of good shows for September and beyond is already shaping up. Here's what's happening with some selected shows:

* Cheap Trick in Coney Island at the Seaside Summer Concert series, tonight, 7:30 p.m. The Seaside site lists the opening act as Mickey Leigh's New Yorkestra, but I've seen another opening act mentioned elsewhere. West 21st Street and Surf Avenue, next to the Brooklyn Cyclones' baseball stadium.

* The Black Eyed Peas Central Park concert has been rescheduled for Sept. 30th. As you'll remember, their June show was cancelled before it started by heavy rain, high winds, and lightning. As before, the "Concert 4 NYC" will benefit the Robin Hood Fund. The site has info on how to attend if you won or bought tickets for the June show. You can also buy tickets for the Sept. 30th show (expensive, but it benefits the charity). 7 p.m., the Great Lawn, Central Park.

* Wild Flag tickets for Bowery Ballroom on Oct. 18th went on sale yesterday. If you're a fan of female-powered indie rock, you'll want to see the all-woman "supergroup" in October (especially if, like me, you missed their recent show at the Williamsburg Waterfront with Sonic Youth).

Wild Flag is also playing Maxwell's in Hoboken on Oct. 16th; get tickets here.The Oct. 15th show at Bell House is sold out.

The band consists of two-thirds of Sleater-Kinney (Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss), Mary Timony (Helium and her solo work), and Rebecca Cole (The Minders). Tickets will sell fast for Wild Flag, which drops its self-titled debut album Sept. 13th. (Pre-order "Wild Flag"at Amazon.com.)

* The Union County Music Festival in Clark, NJ will be held the weekend of Sept. 16th through 18th. I was impressed with the lineup at this free festival last year, and this year's has a fun roster of artists, too, including Blondie, Neon Trees, Nicole Atkins and the Black Sea, Southside Johnny, Ed Kowalczyk of Live, The Smithereens, Paul Rodgers, and Toad the Wet Sprocket. I'll have more info on this festival in a forthcoming post.

What shows are you looking forward to seeing this weekend? Leave your comments below!

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.

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).