tinymixtapes

[tinymixtapes]

RIP: David Riley, bassist for Big Black

David Riley, the bassist for Big Black, has died at 59. From David Riley’s partner, Rachel Brown: Sad news my Chicago friends. My dearest friend and longtime housemate Dave Riley lost his short battle with cancer this morning. In late August he developed a persistent sore throat which wasn’t responsive to antibiotics. Initially dismissed as acid-reflux, further testing showed that he had a large squamous cell carcinoma in his throat which had already spread to several places in his lungs. Since treatment wouldn’t have made any difference, Dave chose to come home to die. His doctor predicted that he had about 6 months left, but sadly the cancer was so aggressive that he didn’t even make it an additional two. […] http://j.mp/2ERmtdp

[tinymixtapes]

Macintosh Plus announces new album, shares 12-minute preview called "Sick & Panic (First Mix)"

That’s right. Vektroid just announced a new Macintosh Plus album. And, thankfully, the first preview of it sounds nothing like Floral Shoppe (which, by the way, made it to #6 on our decade list). It's not what you think. — Vektroid (@Vektroid) December 20, 2019 The 12-minute glimpse, titled “Sick & Panic (First Mix),” is being released on 12-inch picture disc vinyl. Pre-order it here, and go here for more Macintosh Plus merch. Meanwhile, Vektroid also just announced limited-edition cassette versions of Sleepline and Sacred Tapestry, which were issued on vinyl last year via Aguire. Buy all of it. OK BYE. Sick & Panic by Macintosh Plus http://j.mp/2rqO8yL

[tinymixtapes]

♫ Listen: Andy Koufax - “Practice Makes Worseness”

Ya fuckers thought C was out the game? Ya, that’s totally true, sorta, but rn, this one for long-time TMT contributor [and ultra-ultra conflict of interest for me to write this for] Samuel Diamond. Man’s flipping his est. 2014 ultra in-depth and solo-run website Long Island Rap Blog into Long Island Rap Records. And as with all young, 21st-century record labels, LIRR is going to start out on-the-reel with some tapes. First release is from Long Island legend, Andy Koufax. Tape title is announced as I’m From A Little Place, and Koufax continues to stretch alternative rap with single “Practice Makes Worseness.” Phaser guitar riding out, cut with vocal lyrics that sharpen the mutual melody, knocking listeners around with a snare-drum beat like a fury of fists. A perfect match between Queens of the Stone Age and XENNIS RODMAN. Is it angsty? Yes! Does I’m From A Little Place drop early February 2020? Here’s the pre-order link. Wait, it includes autographed baseball card with hand-numbered liner note and download code? FUCKOUTTAHEEEERE!!! Peep the Long Island Rap Records manifesto. Nod to “Practice Makes Worseness” by Andy Koufax below. You’ll never regret being you. http://j.mp/2r9R42O

[tinymixtapes]

TMT Comics: Important Comics - “Goodbye Forever”

• Important Comics: http://importantcomics.com http://j.mp/2EsiNyD

[tinymixtapes]

Chance the Rapper cancels upcoming tour

By now, you’ve surely heard the news: Chance the Rapper has cancelled his entire upcoming big tour, “The Big Tour.” In an apologetic Instagram post, Chance lamented the decision, but seemed devoted in spending his newly free time with family, making new music, and coming back with his “best show to date.” Previously, the tour had been understandably — not that this cancellation isn’t — postponed following the birth of Chance’s second daughter. Concrete facts on the cancellation are scarce, but you could certainly look to low ticket sales resulting from an album that was not been met with nearly the same positive embrace as previous releases. (For perspective, Acid Rap made it onto our feature highlighting some of the TMT staff’s personal favorite releases of the 2010s. We didn’t even review The Big Day.) Or maybe Chance has just been so busy as of late, he realized there’s been no time to watch any of the great television programming he’d been meaning to check out this year! Think about it: Chernobyl. Barry. Watchmen, his neighbor won’t shut up about it. The Righteous Gemstones. The final seasons of Game of Thrones and Veep AND Silicon Valley. Fleabag, who can argue with those Emmy wins? Los Espookys. I Think You Should Leave, he watched the “Focus Group” sketch on YouTube and cannot stop quoting it. Russian Doll. Succession, Chance is a huge Cousin Greg fan. And so on. It would all make perfect, logical sense — and be way less upsetting than a once-vaunted artist having to cancel an entire tour because no one liked his album about loving his wife. Anyway…wow. Reading all that, looks like I’ve got a lot to catch up on too. Alright, scroll down below to see Chance’s Instagram post. I gotta call out sick from TMT for a bit to attend to… other matters. Is Mrs. Fletcher supposed to be any good? View this post on Instagram Hey guys I’ve decided to cancel the Big Tour. I know it sucks and its been a lot of back and forth with reschedules and rerouting, but it’s for the best. I’m gonna take this time to be with family, make some new music and develop my best show to date. I’m deeply sorry to anyone with a ticket who has supported me this past decade by coming to a show and rocking out with me and I feel even worse for anyone who was planning on making this their first Chance concert. Thank you all for an amazing year, and a huge thanks to my team and family for being so strong through this whole year. I promise to come back much stronger and better in 2020 and hope to see some of you guys there. I truly love you and God bless. A post shared by Chance The Rapper Owbum (@chancetherapper) on Dec 15, 2019 at 12:00pm PST http://j.mp/2M0CbHh

[tinymixtapes]

Pussy Riot to tour North America next spring, whether you like it or not

Yeah. That’s right. FUCK YOU. Cuz Russian protest-punks Pussy Riot are coming to North America this coming March and April. Don’t like it? FUCK YOU. They are also partnering with good old PLUS1 to donate $1 from ticket sales to each city’s local Planned Parenthood affiliate. Don’t like that, either? FUCK YOU. Get you tickets here and check out the band’s tour dates — followed by a new trailer featuring some previously-unreleased tunage — down below. Don’t feel like it? Well…I mean, you know: http://j.mp/2PW4SpR

[tinymixtapes]

Tame Impala to embark upon North American spirit quest with Perfume Genius, new album due in February

As a die-hard psych rock fan, the details of your day to day life are probably a little…hazy. Luckily, your old curmudgeonly pal Tiny Mix Tapes Dot Com is here to (gruffly but lovingly) remind you of all the truly mission-critical shit. For instance: did you know that Tame Impala — a.k.a. Kevin Parker, a.k.a. “the Instagram of rock bands” — will be releasing his fourth studio album, The Slow Rush, on February 14 via Interscope? It’s totally true. In fact, Parker has already shared 3 tracks from the thing, including the recent slow-jam “Posthumous Forgiveness”. Dude was even on SNL like nine months ago. I’M SURE WE TOLD YOU. Where the heck have you BEEN AT??? Well, anyway: as you can imagine, after the record comes out, there’s gonna be one hell of a swirly, whirly, melty, spirit-guide-supervised North American tour. So, you might want wanna scope these dates below — with the likes of Perfume Genius and MGMT — and tie a string around your finger or something, so you don’t forget when he’s coming through your town. Oh, and for god sake, put some pants on. Tame Impala’s spiritual migration: 03.09.20 - San Diego, CA - Pechanga Arena San Diego* SOLD OUT 03.10.20 - Inglewood, CA - The Forum* SOLD OUT 03.11.20 - Inglewood, CA - The Forum* 03.13.20 - San Francisco, CA - Chase Center* SOLD OUT 03.19.20 - Mexico City, MEX - Foro Sol $ 03.21.20 - Monterrey, MEX - Pal Norte $ 05.23.20 - London, UK - All Points East - Victoria Park 05.29.20 - Chicago, IL - United Center# 05.30.20 - Milwaukee, WI - Fiserv Forum# 05.31.20 - Detroit, MI - Little Caesars Arena# 06.02.20 - Toronto, ON - Scotiabank Arena# 06.03.20 - Montreal, QC - Bell Centre# 06.06.20 - Washington, DC - Capital One Arena# 06.08.20 - Charlotte, NC - Spectrum Center# 06.09.20 - Atlanta, GA - State Farm Arena# 06.11.20 - Miami, FL - AmericanAirlines Arena# 06.12.20 - Orlando, FL - Amway Center# 07.17.20 - Minneapolis, MN - Xcel Energy Center# 07.19.20 - St. Louis, MO - Enterprise Center# 07.20.20 - Kansas City, MO - Sprint Center# 07.21.20 - Tulsa, OK - BOK Center# 07.23.20 - Austin, TX - Frank Erwin Center# 07.24.20 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center# 07.25.20 - Houston, TX - Toyota Center# 07.28.20 - Glendale, AZ - Gila River Arena# 07.30.20 - Denver, CO - Pepsi Center# 08.01.20 - Salt Lake City, UT - Vivint Smart Home Arena# 08.03.20 - Portland, OR - MODA Center# 08.05.20 - Vancouver, BC - Rogers Arena# 08.07.20 - George, WA - The Gorge Amphiteathre# * Clairo $ MGMT # Perfume Genius http://j.mp/2PN4kCG

[tinymixtapes]

Canadian label Pacific Rhythm unveils Rhythms Of The Pacific Volume 4, featuring Khotin, Active Surplus, Wolfey, and Chapters; shares Khotin's "Piano Theme"

Vancouver, British Columbia label Pacific Rhythm are set to drop the fourth edition of their Rhythms of the Pacific series, three years after the last volume. Featured on the EP are Khotin, Active Surplus, and Chapters. B.C. house and ambient tunesmith Khotin leads things off with his track “Piano Theme,” a propulsive jammy for loosening up your post-New Year’s shindigs. Rhythms Of The Pacific Volume 4 is out January 24, but the EP is up for pre-order now. Head below for tracklisting and a stream of Khotin’s “Piano Theme.” Rhythms Of The Pacific Volume 4 tracklisting: 01. Khotin - Piano Theme 02. Active Surplus - Peppermint 03. Wolfey - H.U.W 04. Chapters - Ray Trace http://j.mp/2PjMQi9

[tinymixtapes]

♫ Listen: Ezra Buchla / Todd Rush / Jacob Sunderlin - Four Rhizomes

My rootstalks are horizontal. They spread, they grow, they allow for vertical shoots at times. I am bamboo. I am ginger. Lay me in the ground and plant me. Cover me with soil and hydrate me. Cultivate my fruitfulness at seasonal intervals. Ezra Buchla (son of Don, player in bands), Todd Rush, and tape scene vet Jacob Sunderlin sow four rhizomes of sound on Four Rhizomes (Cloud Recordings). The lengthy compositions spread from a central seed and sprout various buds along an incredibly diverse stylistic spectrum. At times reveling in dusty folk (“under the evening moon the snail is stripped to the waist”) while subverting it with tape manipulation and synthesizers at others (“even with insects some can sing & some can’t”), Buchla, Rush, and Sunderlin combine for an inspired pairing, their acoustic instruments (autoharp, banjo, viola, guitar) ringing true when called upon, destabilizing when necessary. When it all comes together on “don’t hit the fly rub the hands or the legs,” the result is a breathtaking ambient post-folk meltdown, a smear of sunlight glimmer distorting surroundings, a visualization that wouldn’t be out of place in the active genetic mutations of Alex Garland’s Annihilation. But that’s exactly what the trio is doing here: mutating traditional folk into gloriously unstable hybridizations and allowing them to run their course, whether by molecular devolution or bursting to nothingness. My rootstalks are horizontal. I am both plant and animal. Four Rhizomes by Ezra Buchla / Todd Rush / Jacob Sunderlin http://j.mp/2tgPpcn

[tinymixtapes]

Fennesz announces North American tour in support of that fuzzy feeling

OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. I can’t actually remember if I’ve seen Fennesz in concert or not, but given the Austrian’s status as a virtual legend of guitar-centered ambient music, prior experiences in a live setting are almost irrelevant. Him visiting North America will always be a momentous occasion worthy of hyperventilation, and that hyperventilation will always be remedied by naturally remembering Fennesz’s music, which has a special capacity to massage the pleasantly mystical parts of your inner self. His latest album, Agora, came out on Touch back in March, and outside of that one dude with the back hair who was uncomfortably adjacent this past summer, I doubt 2019 offered anything more memorably fuzzy. Fennesz will be joined on tour by NYC-based composer and producer, Britton Powell, whose new work If Anything Is reportedly “explores themes of hyper-reality and ambient capitalism by means of mixed-media environment for sound and multichannel video.” It sounds like a fitting complement…if anything is. Check the dates after various relevant content. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN. OH GOD. OH MAN: 03.06.20 - San Francisco, CA - Gray Area * 03.07.20 - Los Angeles, CA - UPEND/Zebulon * 03.08.20 - Seattle, WA - Columbia City Theatre * 03.10.20 - Portland, OR - Holocene * 03.12.20 - Chicago, IL - Empty Bottle * 03.13.20 - Montreal, Quebec - Sala Rossa * 03.14.20 - Brooklyn, NY - Bushwick Methodist Church * 03.17.20 - Philadelphia, PA - Bowerbird * 03.19.20 - Washington, DC - U Street Music Hall * 03.20.19 - Dallas, TX - Nasher Sculpture * 03.24.19 - Durham, NC - Duke Coffee House * 03.26.20 - Knoxville, TN - Big Ears Festival 03.27.20 - Knoxville, TN - Big Ears Festival 04.02.20 - Cleveland, OH - Mahalls 04.03.20 - Columbia, MO - Firestone Baars Chapel 04.04.20 - Iowa City, IA - Mission Creek Festival * Britton Powell http://j.mp/2PhXHck

[tinymixtapes]

♫ Listen: Loyalty XIX - Catrialis

Among the lists and feeds and streams and conversations and articles and texts and DMs and suggestions sits Loyalty XIX, coated up and cinched out. Never heard of the boy, but the boy’s latest EP, Catrialis, popped up on my feed, so I fed it some time. Good choice. Imagine blinding strobe lights and air so humid you can spit it out. Faces barely noticeable. Gut-shots of rhythm imbued with foreign squawks and chirps leap off edges to fall into syncopation. God’s steps appear as .wav files. Repetition and pace. Then, it all calms down with mournful synths and, finally, a child’s “YAY!” Exhale. Catrialis was recently released on angoisse. Peep that shit. Catrialis by Loyalty XIX http://j.mp/2YG4sYN

[tinymixtapes]

Wrekmeister Harmonies engages in stunning crossover event, announces new LP featuring Thor Harris (Swans) and Jamie Stewart (Xiu Xiu)

…On second thought, maybe the company of dozens was a bit too much to handle in terms of musical logistics and who gets the bathroom at what time in the pre-breakfast morning? Because the new album from Wrekmeister Harmonies had JR Robinson and Esther Shaw joined by, apparently, just two extra musicians during its production at the famed BC Studio run by Martin Bisi. Thor Harris (formerly of Swans) is seemingly ubiquitous these days, and following up his latest stint as a member of Xiu Xiu, both he and Jamie Stewart are featured on the upcoming Wrekmeister release, We Love to Look at the Carnage, which is out February 21 on Thrill Jockey. It’s unclear whether “featured” means a consistent presence on all tracks, but recording likely took place prior to Xiu Xiu’s announced hiatus. So if you’re looking for something distantly Xiu Xiu-related to tie you over… As the smaller collective might suggest, the new Wrekmeister album is being described as both more “subtle” and more “powerful” than previous efforts. Robinson’s lyrics reflect apparitions apparently brought about by the “anxiety of insomnia.” Additionally, the first single off the release, “Coyotes of Central Park,” sounds like a venture dangerously close to post-punk territory. (Maybe Robinson’s vocals are sounding more like Ian Curtis than usual. That’s not a bad thing!) Pre-order the album here and feel free to love to listen to the aforementioned track down below: We Love To Look At The Carnage by Wrekmeister Harmonies We Love to Look at the Tracklisting: 01. Midnight to Six 02. Still Life With Prick Cancer 03. Coyotes of Central Park 04. The Rat Catcher 05. Immolation http://j.mp/38sOENq

[tinymixtapes]

Ariana Grande doesn’t really have to announce new Sweetener Tour live album, because Instagram

Hey, lookit! Here comes another barely adequate micro-dose for all of us pathetic news-addicts! Boca Raton, Florida’s very own Ariana Grande — whom we are apparently just ADDICTED to covering — has revealed…like, SOME STUFF, I guess, about an upcoming live album to be culled from her tours for 2018’s Sweetener and 2019’s thank u, next album. (Yeah, yeah: as usual, I know this because Tyler knows this. So what?) Basically: Grande shared what could maybe possibly conceivably be some cover art alongside what looks to want to more or less look like a tracklisting in her Instagram story. Then: someone else who’s whole business is just tweeting about pop culture news captured it and, you know, tweeted it! Yes, that’s fucking all. No deets, no release date, no NOTHING. (Well, except for the tidbit that you can “pre-save” the thing on Spotify, whatever in the hell that means?) I Guess we’ll all just have to get our next HIT somewhere else, like the degenerate, unstable, maniacs we are. Wait. Scratch that. I mean: Let’s all keep reading Tiny Mixed Tapes, then go out for a round of frosty chocolate milkshakes! .@ArianaGrande unveils the tracklist for her ‘Sweetener Tour’ Live Album. #SWTLiveAlbum Pre-save: https://t.co/oJJVz3Ivs1 pic.twitter.com/2gnCWPBhQt — Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 11, 2019 http://j.mp/34b50XQ

[tinymixtapes]

♫ Listen: Real Life Rock & Roll Band - Hollerin’ the Spirit

This is real life, you know, not some simulacrum. This isn’t a post-internet mélange of fragmented digital imagery, rendered in code, fully polygonal, repurposed for maximum irony-not-irony, mulched by algorithms and collected by web-page spider programs, polished to a sheen, and piped through the malls and offices of future Earth. That is, it’s not what those corporate fatcats at Tiny Mix Tapes WANT you to hear. No, this is music for PEOPLE, not machines. Real life. Real Life Rock & Roll. That’s what this quartet — Aaron Oppenheim, Blaine Todd, Scott Siler, and Andrew Weathers (who has basically mixed or mastered pretty much every imaginable underground release) — is chuckin’. To say that the band easily locks into grooves with one another is an understatement; almost the entirety of Hollerin’ the Spirit (on Oakland label Geomancy) unfolds under a dusty motorik vision of Americana, where guitars chime like sunbeams and the entirety of the country billows with a ramshackle charm. The five tracks that RLR&RB have dreamed up stretch like the miles of highway crisscrossing the country, building in intensity when whatever distant destination they’re aiming for finally appears over the horizon. But the trip itself is the draw. You travel with the band, you breathe the air, you see the sights. You LIVE – not in the backseat of a gross tour van, but in the emotive propulsion of the spirit of the journey. Every grand, shining riff connects one mile marker to the next, and the workmanlike approach to track construction reveals the true spirit of camaraderie evident in the music. It’s like the Real Life Rock & Roll Band is workshopping the new American paradigm in real time, right before our noses. That’s because, wait for it … it’s real life. Take THAT Tiny Mix Tapes, fatcats! Ow, hey, get your hands off me, I’m not done typing … Hollerin' the Spirit by Real Life Rock & Roll Band http://j.mp/2P9s5FQ

[tinymixtapes]

TMT Comics: 100% SWEAT - “Zits 2”

Earth and subtitles by Ellie Tremayne! • 100% SWEAT: sammeier.info http://j.mp/2E9OtIM

[tinymixtapes]

Blood Orange announces 2020 North American tour

CRAZY!! MERE *SECONDS* (in evolutionary time) after getting home from all THESE dates (and then announcing this other thing really quick), Blood Orange — a.k.a. Dev “The Refrigerator” Hynes — has unveiled eight (count ‘em, eight!) North American tour dates in March of 2020. THAT’S RIGHT, FOLKS: early next year, Hynes will hit *ALL* THE TOP CITIES: • Keockuk, Iowa! • Cucamonga, California!! • Walla Walla, Washington!!! Oh, wait. No. Never mind, wrong list… I meant: Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, Toronto, Washington DC, and New York City’s Radio City Music Hall. MY MISTAKE. Tickets will be on-sale *this Friday* (a.k.a. DEV HYNES DAY [f.k.a. December 13]) at 11 am —IRREGARDLESS of what time zone you live in! Isn’t that a trip? Only “The Refrigerator” could pull that off! Blood Orange 2020 tour: 03.07.20 - Okeechobee, FL - Okeechobee Music & Arts Festival 03.09.20 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse * 03.10.20 - Atlanta, GA - Variety Playhouse * 03.13.20 - Chicago, IL - The Vic Theatre * 03.14.20 - Detroit, MI - Saint Andrew’s Hall * 03.16.20 - Toronto, ON - Queen Elizabeth Theatre * 03.18.20 - Washington, DC - Lincoln Theatre *^ 03.20.20 - New York, NY - Radio City Music Hall * * Tei Shi ^ on sale at 10AM http://j.mp/35cqapQ

[tinymixtapes]

Dirty Projectors shame all those amateur holiday carolers by dropping new live album Sing The Melody TODAY via Domino

Hey, great news for you longtime, die-hard DP fans: your boy and girls Dirty Projectors — a band often heralded for their technical proficiency, craftsmanship, and intricacy — have TOTALLY just dropped a new live-in-studio album, entitled Sing The Melody, that they recorded back in 2018 at New York City’s Power Station studios! Okay, slightly less-great news for you longtime, die-hard DP fans: it mostly features “road-tested live arrangements” from “the band’s most recent album, 2018’s Lamp Lit Prose (uh, and also a rendition of “Cool Your Heart” from that one album). BUT STILL. There’s also a medley on there (which has been “a highlight of the band’s live performances”) consisting of a cover of Rihanna, Kanye West, and Paul McCartney’s “FourFiveSeconds,” (which Longstreth helped co-write), segueing into a revamp of “Knotty Pine,” a Longsreth/David Byrne co-write dating back to that glorious, glorious Bitte Orca period from ca. 2009. (That’s right: glorious.) So…all-in-all: PRETTY GOOD NEWS for you longtime, die-hard DP fans? Anyway, listen, don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, okay? Just watch the video for “FourFiveSeconds / Knotty Pine” (also taped live at Power Station) down below, and if you’re so-inclined, snag Sing The Melody in its entirety wherever sung-melodies are sold. Sing The Melody tune-listing: 01. Right Now 02. What Is The Time 03. That’s A Lifestyle 04. I Feel Energy 05. Cool Your Heart 06. FourFiveSeconds 07. Knotty Pine 08. Break-Thru http://j.mp/2PBWKuq