Tuesday, April 10, 2018

Sights and Sounds: Kacey Musgraves, Stars, Weezer

Here is a roundup of highlights that arrived in my inbox overnight...



Stagecoach Fest-bound Kacey Musgraves returns to #1 on Billboard Country Albums Chart with 'Golden Hour'

Multi Grammy award-winning artist Kacey Musgraves tops the Billboard Country Albums chart at #1 once again with her fourth studio album Golden Hour and debuts at #4 on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart with over 49,000 copies sold and consumed. This is Kacey’s third #1 country chart debut, following her critically acclaimed albums Same Trailer Different Park and Pageant Material. One week after release, Golden Hour is the best country album debut of 2018 and is the highest female country album debut since Shania Twain’s NOW album in September 2017. Golden Hour is available for purchase here: http://strm.to/GoldenHour

Golden Hour continues to receive rave reviews with Vulture proclaiming it “a near-perfect album which many have already (correctly) called an instant classic” and The Los Angeles Times declaring “the promise of new love meets the thrill of new sounds on “Golden Hour,” Kacey Musgraves’ knockout of a third studio album.” Pitchfork featured Golden Hour on their “best new music,” stating “Golden Hour stands as an assured, artful snapshot of a particular rush of feelings, but its wisdom speaks volumes to Musgraves’ ongoing evolution.”

Speaking of Musgraves, you can watch the music video for "To June This Morning" featuring Musgraves and her husband Ruston Kelly. The song re-imagines a love letter from Johnny Cash to June Carter.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE: https://JohnnyCash.lnk.to/FTJTM_MVPR


Kacey recently performed “Slow Burn” on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, “Butterflies” on TODAY, and “High Horse” on The Ellen DeGeneres ShowOf her “High Horse” performance, Consequence of Sound exclaimed, “like the strutting song itself, Musgraves commanded the stage with the flair of a confident disco queen.” Kacey is currently on tour with Little Big Town and will be playing Stagecoach Festival in Indio, CA on April 28. This summer, she’ll join Harry Styles on his U.S. tour before embarking on her highly-anticipated headlining Oh, What A World: Tour. For full list of dates, visit http://www.kaceymusgraves.com/tour

Follow Kacey Musgraves:



Stars announce limited edition vinyl release of sophomore album 'Heart' 

OUT MAY 8, 2018 VIA LAST GANG RECORDS

NORTH AMERICAN HEADLINING TOUR BEGINS APRIL 15, 2018

Stars today announced the limited edition vinyl release of their celebrated sophomore album Heart on May 8th, 2018 via Last Gang Records. Heart, recorded in the bedroom of keyboard player Chris Seligman on Avenue Mont-Royal in Montreal, was originally released in 2003 and described by The New York Times as “Lovely. Romantic. Devastating.” 500 copies of the album will be pressed for the first time on 140 gram Translucent Light Blue vinyl and will be available worldwide following its limited release for Canada’s Record Store Day on April 21st. Pre-order now HERE.

Stars kick off a North American spring tour on April 15 in Portland, ME, with stops in Boston, Philadelphia, and Washington D.C. See below for a full itinerary.

Heart was the first record we made as a band together,” notes Torquil Campbell. “It was, like everything we have ever done, an act of love for each other. We knew that what we were doing was totally unfashionable and we expected nothing from it except to be together and get loaded on wine and make music. And that's what is so perfect about the record: it's just the sound of people in love with each other. A pure statement of faith from a group of people too young to be cynical yet. The fact that it never came out on vinyl is due to the timing. Heart was made in the hubris filled days of the early 2000's, when record labels still thought selling little bits of crappy plastic to people at fifteen bucks a pop was a sustainable business model, and so no vinyl was made. It was thought of as passé back then.

We live and learn, eh?

We finished it with our friend David Hodge, who worked miracles and mixed it for 500 bucks or something like that, and started sending it around to labels while we planned what we were all going to do for a living instead of being in a band...And then something happened. It found an audience. It found a home. And it started the nearly twenty year relationship we have had with our loyal and beautiful listeners. It means a lot to us that this is finally available in the format it deserves, and we hope it will take its place comfortably next to the other stars records on your shelf. We all fade away one day...But vinyl...vinyl might as well be forever. We are Stars, and this is still our heart.

Stars recently released a newly recorded single, “Ship To Shore,” via Last Gang Records alongside its Natalka Proszak-directed video of super 8 found footage, which premiered via Stereogum. The single was co-produced by Stars and Marcus Paquin, with mixing by Peter Katis (The National, Japandroids). Watch the video HERE. The band’s latest record,There Is No Love In Fluorescent Light (Last Gang Records), was released in October 2017 to wide critical acclaim from outlets including Pitchfork, NPR Music, Billboard, The AV Club, and more.

Stars are: Torquil Campbell, Evan Cranley, Amy Millan, Chris McCarron, Patty McGee and Chris Seligman.

Stars / Photo Credit: Shervin Lainez
Stars 2018 Tour Dates:
4/12 - Moncton, NB @ Tide & Boar Gastropub
4/13 - Halifax, NS @ The Marquee Ballroom
4/14 - Fredericton, NB @ Fredericton Boyce Farmers Market
4/15 - Portland, ME @ AURA
4/16 - Boston, MA @ Royale
4/17 - Providence, RI @ Fete Music Hall
4/19 - Fairfield, CT @ The Warehouse
4/20 - Philadelphia, PA @ Union Transfer
4/21 - Tarrytown, NY @ Tarrytown Music Hall
4/22 - Millvale, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
4/23 - Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club
4/24 - Charlotte, NC @ The Underground
4/25 - Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse
6/11 - Victoria, BC @ Capital Ballroom
6/12 - Vancouver, BC @ Vogue Theater
6/13 - Seattle, Washington @ Neptune
6/14 - Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
6/16 - San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore
6/17 - Santa Cruz, CA @ The Catalyst Atrium
6/18 - Los Angeles, CA @ Teragram Ballroom
6/19 - Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up
6/20 - Pomona, CA @ The Glass House
6/21 - Phoenix, AZ @ The Crescent Ballroom
6/23 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
6/25 - Dallas, TX @ Trees
6/26 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawk
6/27 - Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall
8/2 - 8/5 - Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza



About Last Gang Records:
Last Gang is a music company founded in 2003 and credited with launching the careers of Metric, Death From Above 1979, MSTRKRFT and Crystal Castles. The company is also well known for its work with Arkells, Ryan Hemsworth, Operators, Lights, and Chromeo. Last Gang is an Entertainment One company.



Watch Weezer perform original song "Mexican Fender" on 'The Late Late Show'

Weezer performs during “The Late Late Show with James Corden,”
on Monday, April 9, 2018 on the CBS Television Network.
Photo: Terence Patrick ©2018 CBS Broadcasting, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
A thanks to the good folks at CBS Television Network who just sent me photos and a great clip of rockers Weezer performing "Mexican Fender" off the band's 2017 album Pacific Daydream on "The Late Late Show with James Corden" on  Monday, April 9 (12:37-1:37 AM, ET/PT), on CBS

Weezer: Mexican Fender
Late Late Show music guest Weezer performs "Mexican Fender" for the Stage 56 audience. Link to view the great performance video is below:

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