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Listen: Ryan Hemsworth's Still Awake EP

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You can't drag your mouse across your laptop screen without bumping into some new Ryan Hemsworth material these days. Here's the producer's latest, a new free EP called Still Awake. Stream it below and download it for free here. Listen to one of the EP cuts, "Perfectly", above.

Still Awake:

01 Empty Thoughts Over a Shallow Ocean
02 Perfectly
03 (。◕‿◕。) (or, I Want to Stare at Your Face Until I Die)
04 Mistakes to Make
05 track 5 (crashed)
06 All Our Thoughts Are Physical
07 Perfectly (Taquwami remix)

Watch the video for Hemsworth's "Colour and Movement":

Check Out the Lil B-Themed Clothing Line That's a Fashion Student's Senior Thesis

Lil B platform shoes, skirts, dresses, etc.

Images via Isabel Simpson-Kirsch's Tumblr

Here's a rare (no pun intended) opportunity to wish you could go back and do your senior year of college over again: The Fader has posted an interview with Isabel Simpson-Kirsch, a Parsons student who chose Lil B as the inspiration for the incredible fashion line she created as part of a thesis. The line is called "Based". Check out images of what it looks like above and below.

She's made a full series of looks-- from dresses to boxers and platform shoes-- all bearing various images of Lil B. They're awesome. I'm guessing if she made the line commercially available, it would go pretty quickly. 

"Junior year at Parsons is so hard-- that's when everybody drops out," Simpson-Kirsch told The Fader. "Lil B helped me through it. Being Based and positive got me through it. And this summer, I was like, the only way I can come back and do this thesis is if it really comes from my heart." 

Read our recent feature on Lil B fans here. And Lil B in another New York City college setting, lecturing at NYU last year:

Julia Holter Announces New Album Loud City Song, Shares New Track "World"

Photo by Rick Bahto

A year after releasing her excellent LP EkstasisJulia Holter has announced a new album. Loud City Song is out via Domino on August 20 in the U.S. (and August 19 elsewhere). Listen to its opening track "World" via the Super 8 montage by Rick Bahto, below.

According to a press release, Holter began writing the material for Loud City Song prior to releasing her 2011 debut, Tragedy. It was co-produced by Cole Marsden Greif-Neill (Nite Jewel/the Samps/ex-Haunted Graffiti), who also worked on Ekstasis. Inspired by Frank O'Hara, Joni Mitchell, and Colette's 1944 novella Gigi, the record "explores [Holter's] relationship with her hometown of Los Angeles and modern life universally," according to a press release.

Holter has also announced a summer tour of North America and Europe, which includes a stop at the Pitchfork Music Festival. 

Loud City Song:

01 World
02 Maxim's 1
03 Horns Surrounding Me
04 In the Green Wild
05 Hello Stranger
06 Maxim's 2
07 He's Running Through My Eyes
08 This Is a True Heart
09 City Appearing

Julia Holter:

07-11 Washington, DC - Sixth & I Synagogue @
07-12 New York, NY - Le Poisson Rouge @
07-13 Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live @
07-14 Boston, MA - The Church Of Boston @
07-16 Montreal, Quebec - La Sala Rosa @
07-17 Toronto, Ontario - The Drake @
07-18 Detroit, MI - Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit @
07-20 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-23 Lisbon, Portugal - ZDB
07-24 Madrid, Spain - Theatro Lara
07-25 Cartagena, Spain - La Mar De Musicas
07-26 Barcelona, Spain - Caixaforum
07-27 Lyon, France - Les Nuits De Fourvieres *
07-29 Ravenna, Italy - Hani-Bi
07-30 Modena, Italy - Sant Augustino
07-31 Geneva, Switzerland - Ecoutes Au Vert @ Barje Des Sciences
08-03 Katowice, Poland - OFF Festival
08-04 Zilnia, Slovakia - Stanica
08-05 Vienna, Austria - WUK
08-07 Basel, Switzerland - Im Fluss Festival
08-08 Haldern-Rees, Germany - Haldern Pop
08-09 Hamburg, Germany - Kampnagel Summerfest
08-10 Goteborg, Sweden - Way Out West
08-11 Helsinki, Finland - Flow Festival
08-13 Ghent, Belgium - DOK
08-14 Saint Malo, France - La Route Du Rock Festival
08-16 Brecon, Wales - Green Man Festival
08-17 Skipton, England - Beacons Festival
08-20 London, England - Cecil Sharp House

@ with Jessica Pratt
* with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

"World":

Watch Julia Holter's video for "Our Sorrows":

Swans Expand Tour, Add Dates With Pharmakon

Photo by Will Deitz

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Swans have added a string of North American dates to their current world tour. New York noise artist Margaret Chardiet aka Pharmakon will open a string of shows. Swans are touring in support of last year's The Seer; Chardiet released her first widely-available album, Abandon, last week. Stream "Ache" above.

On May 25, Pharmakon will play a collaborative show with Iceage offshoot Vår in Brooklyn. Tickets for the show, co-presented by Sacred Bones and Pitchfork, are available here.

Revisit Brandon Stosuy's interview with Swans' Michael Gira and interview with Pharamakon and watch Pitchfork.tv's documentary on Swans after the dates.

Swans:

05-20 Zagreb, Croatia - Pogon JEedinstvo
05-21 Parma, Italy - Campus Industry Music
05-22 Geneva, Switzerland - L'usinie
05-23 Schorndorf, Germany - Club Manufaktur
05-24 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Festival
05-25 Paris, France - La Grande Halle de la Villette
05-27 Frankfurt, Germany - Mousonturm
05-28 Berlin, Germany - Volksbühne
05-29 Dresden, Germany - Beatpol
05-30 Munich, Germany - Feierwerk
05-31 Porto, Portugal - Optimus Primavera Sound
06-13 Brooklyn, NY - Northside Music Festival (Warsaw) ^
06-14 Pittsburgh, PA - Rex Theater
06-16 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo
06-19 Calgary, Alberta- Sled Island Festival
06-22 Hlvarenbeek, Netherlands - Best Kept Secret Festival
06-23 Clisson, France - Hell Fest
07-18 Indianapolis, IN - Deluxe at Olde National Centre *
07-19 Detroit, MI - Majestic Theatre *
07-20 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-22 Iowa City, IA - Blue Moose Tap House $
07-23 Newport, KY - Southgate House $
07-24 Columbus, OH - The Bluestone $
07-25 Cleveland, OH - Beachland Ballroom $
07-26 Buffalo, NY - Tralf Music Hall $
08-13 Edinburgh, Scotland - Liquid Room
08-14 Belfast, Northern Ireland - Limelight
08-15 Dublin, Ireland - Button Factory
08-16 Cork, Ireland - Cyprus Avenue
08-18 Wales, England - Green Man Festival

^ with Chelsea Wolfe
*  with Low
$ with Pharmakon

Watch Mikal Cronin Play an Eerie House Party in the "Change" Video

California fuzz-rocker Mikal Cronin has shared a grungy house-party clip to accompany "Change", a highlight from his excellent new MCII LP. Directed by Claire Marie Vogel, the video has got a slightly eerie, slightly off vibe, depicting an invisible man throughout, clad in a hoodie but with no face.

Check it out below, via SPIN, after Cronin's upcoming dates. And revisit Evan Minsker's recent interview with Cronin here.

Mikal Cronin:

05-15 Paris, France - Nouveau Casino 
05-16 London, England -  Tuffnel Park Dome 
05-17 Brighton, England - Great Escape Festival 
05-18 Utrecht, Netherlands - Le Guess Who?
05-23 San Diego, CA - The Casbah
05-24 Los Angeles, CA - The Echo ^*
05-25 San Francisco, CA - The Rickshaw Stop 
06-06 Portland, OR - Mississippi Studios #
06-07 Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern #
06-08 Missoula, MT - Old Beck VFW Post 209 #
06-10 Minneapolis, MN - 7th Street Entry #
06-13-15 Toronto, Ontario - Silver Dollar (NXNE Festival)
06-16 Montreal, Quebec - La Divan Orange #
06-17 Boston, MA - Great Scott #$
06-18 Philly, PA - Kung Fu Necktie #$
06-20 New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom #
06-21 Washington DC - Comet Ping Pong #$
06-22 Asheville, NC - Emerald Lounge #%
06-23 Atlanta, GA - The Earl #
06-24 Nashville, TN - The Stone Fox #
06-26 Dallas, TX - Club Dada #
06-27 Austin, TX - Mohawk Inside #
06-28 Marfa, TX - Padre’s
06-29 Tucson, AZ - Club Congress
07-19 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-25 Lisbon, Portugal - Musicbox
07-26 Barcelos, Portugal - Milhoes De Festa Festival
07-29 Madrid, Spain - El Sol
07-30 San Sebastian, Spain - Surfilm Festival
08-02 Katowice, Poland - OFF Festival
08-03 Venlo, Netherlands - Zomerparkfeest
08-04 Binic, France - Binic Festival
08-05 Lorient, France - Le Galion
08-06 Bordeaux, France - Relache Caserne Niel
08-07 Paris, France - Le Gibus
08-08 HaldernRees, Germany - Haldern Pop Festival
08-09 Oslo, Norway - Oya Festivalen
08-10 Goteborg, Sweden - Way Out West Festival
08-11 Copenhagen, Denmark - Pumpehuset
08-12 Hamburg, Germany - Hafenklang
08-13 Nijmegen, Netherlands - Doornroosje
08-14 Groningen, Netherlands - Vera
08-15 Hasselt, Belgium - Pukkelpop
08-16 Biddinghuizen, Netherlands - Lowlands Festival
08-17 Skipton, England - Beacons Festival
08-18 Brecon Beacons, Wales - Greenman Festival
08-24 Los Angeles, CA - FYF Fest

^ with Pangea
* with Gap Dream
# with Shannon and the Clams
$ with Roomrunner
% with Greg Cartwright

Solange Plans Full-Length Album on Columbia Records for Later This Year

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Solange Knowles is shifting gears in the music industry once again and (re-)joining a major label. Billboard reports that she's signed a deal with Columbia Records, which will put out a new Solange full-length later this year. According to Billboard, the new album will likely feature songs from her excellent 2012 EP True.

This is a notable pivot given that Solange found her groove as part of Grizzly Bear member Chris Taylor's independent label Terrible Records last year. Prior to that, she was part of Universal's Geffen imprint-- an experience that didn't go very well, she's said in interviews. Solange also told Pitchfork last year that she didn't have plans in the foreseeable future to switch to a major label.

It's possible that True was so well-received that Solange outgrew Terrible Records, or she simply worked with Columbia to find a deal that suited her better than her previous relationship with Universal. Her older sister Beyoncé is a Columbia signee, so maybe that has something to do with it. Or maybe the line between "indie" and "major label" is growing so fine that it's inconsequential. 

Listen to a brand new version of Solange's "Looks Good With Trouble" featuring Kendrick Lamar, above. 

Watch: The Breeders Reunite With Tanya Donelly

Photo via Instagram user bsilcio/Slicing Up Eyeballs

Last night, the Breeders hit Boston with their reunited Last Splash lineup, part of their current tour in support of the 20th anniversary LSXX reissue. At the hometown gig, former vocalist/guitarist Tanya Donelly (also formerly of Throwing Muses and Belly), joined the group on stage, as Slicing Up Eyeballs reports.

Donelly performed "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" with the band, the Beatles cover included on their 1990 debut Pod. She co-founded the Breeders with Kim Deal that year, but left after Pod and 1992's Safari EP. (Kim's twin sister Kelley took over when Donelly began focusing on Belly.)

Donelly also sang last night on Last Splash's "Do You Love Me Now?", one of the record's songs written collaboratively by Kim and Kelley Deal. Watch video of both below.

The LSXX reissue is out May 14 via 4AD.

"Happiness Is a Warm Gun":

"Do You Love Me Now?":

Watch: Foxygen Compile Footage From Their High School and College Films for "No Destruction"

The music video for Foxygen's We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic highlight "No Destruction" features one loose story line-- the band are dressed up in Western clothes, performing by a body of water, and signing autographs for nearby square dancers. But they've also spliced in archival footage of films that Sam France and Jonathan Rado made during high school and college.

The video was directed by the band's friend Bryan Felber, who also worked on the old films.

Watch Merchandise's Short Art Film "Rush of Blood", a Visual Companion to Their New Record Totale Nite

Merchandise have shared a 15-minute art film to accompany their new record, Totale Nite, released last month via Night People. Titled "Rush of Blood", the film was written and shot by the band at home in Tampa at the same time as they were recording the album. It was conceptualized, directed, and edited by frontman Carson Cox with an original score of experimental/drone works by guitarist Dave Vassalotti. They both appear in the film as well. (Cox gets his head shaved, surreally, by another image of himself.)

The band offered some context:

"Rush of Blood" is an attempt at carrying over visual themes explored on the record (anxiety, mental fog, the elephant in the room). It was shot and edited in a style that is meant to reveal something to the viewer by its invisibility and hidden meaning. Special thanks goes to Chris Swanson, Darius Van Arman, and Shawn Reed for their help in making this video happen. Styling by Aldo Padaldo.

Prior to their upcoming European tour around Primavera, Merchandise also play a free show this afternoon at NYU with Mission of Burma. Tonight, Cox and Vassalotti will both perform solo sets at 285 Kent, the first solo shows they've done outside of Tampa. Both of their solo projects-- Blonde God and D. Vassalotti, respectively-- have cassettes out on Night People.

Watch "Rush of Blood" after their huge tour schedule:

05-10 New York, NY - NYU Strawberry Festival
05-10 Brooklyn, NY - 285 Kent (solo performances)
05-15 London, England- 100 Club
05-16 Brighton, England - The Haunt
05-17 Brighton, England - The Corn Exchange
05-18 Utrecht, Netherlands - Le Guess Who Festival
05-20 Paris, France - Fleche D’Or
05-21 Rennes, France - Ubu
05-22 Lyon, France - Le Sirius
05-23 Nimes, France - Paloma
05-24 Barcelona, Spain - Primavera Sound Festival
05-30 Porto, Portugal - Optimus Primavera Festival
06-01 Austin, TX - Chaos in Tejas †=
06-02 Austin, TX - Chaos in Tejas †=
06-04 Dallas, TX - Club Dada †=
06-05 Nashville, TN - Stone Fox †=
06-06 Louisville, KY - The Workhouse Ballroom †=
06-07 Columbus, OH - Ace of Cups †=
06-08 Pittsburgh, PA - The 6119 †=
06-09 Boston, MA - TT The Bears †=
06-10 Burlington, VT -  The Monkey House †=
06-11 Montreal, Quebec - Il Motore †=
06-12 Toronto, Ontario - NXNE Music Festival †=
06-13 Toronto, Ontario - NXNE Music Festival †=
06-14 Taylor, PA - Underwood Skatepark †=
06-15 Brooklyn, NY - 285 Kent (Northside Music Festival) †=
06-17 Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s †=
06-18 Washington, DC - DC9 †=
06-19 Richmond, VA - Strange Matter †=
06-20 Charlotte, NC - The Milestone †=
06-21 Atlanta, GA - 529 †=
06-22 Gainesville, FL - The Atlantic †=
06-23 Miami, FL - Churchill’s †=
06-24 Tampa, FL - TBA †
07-18 Athens, GA - Caledonia Lounge
07-19 Indianapolis, IN - Vogue Theater
07-20 Chicago, IL - Pitchfork Music Festival
07-22 Minneapolis, MA - Triple Rock Social Club %
07-23 Iowa City, IA - Gabe's *
07-24 St. Louis, MO - Blank Space *
08-02 Katowice, Poland - OFF Festival
08-30 Verona, Italy - A Perfect Day !
08-31 Salisbury, England - End Of The Road Festival
09-07 Isle Of Wight, England - Bestival

* with Wet Hair
! with Primal Scream, Jake Bugg
% with Daughn Gibson
† with Milk Music 
= with Destruction Unit