How excellent was everyone’s long weekends? Very excellent, right? Good, let’s hit it. Melbourne band The Cat Empire mix a number of world influences, from jazz to funk, ska to latin, into their latest full length ‘Steal The Light’. Catch TCE during their Canadian tour throughout July. Canadian blues rock outfit Ross Neilsen Band returns with ‘Resurrection’ featuring Ross’ in-your-face guitar and a tight rhythm section. Finally we have two compilations featuring a number of well known rock and country artists respectively. ‘Guitar Heroes and Rock Legends’ and ‘Certified #1 Country Hits Vol. II’ are both completely filled-out triple-CD albums.

The Cat Empire “Steal The Light”
Ross Neilsen Band “Resurrection”
Various Artists “Guitar Heroes and Rock Legends”
Various Artists “Certified #1 Country Hits Vol. II”

We have quite a huge lineup of releases this week so let’s hit it! The Boxer Rebellion return with ‘Promises’ the bands 4th studio release, moving away from previously dark soundscapes and towards soaring hi-fi pieces. Canadian DJ deadmau5 follows up the success of the ‘At Play’ series with ‘At Play In The USA Vol. 1′ a tribute to our southern neighbours. The compilation delves into his early collection alongside work from Melleefresh, Bill Newton-Davis, and Steve Duda (from the BSOD collab). UK producer Bibio (Stephen Wilkinson), now 7 records deep, releases the aptly titled ‘Silver Wilkinson’ a diverse set of electronic, instrumental guitar, and dance hits which (in my humble opinion) is one of the most interesting mixes of genres on a record I’ve heard in a while.

The Boxer Rebellion “Promises”
deadmau5 “deadmau5 At Play In The USA Vol. 1″
Bibio “Silver Wilkinson”

Here are the remaining releases this week from Fontana North:
John Grant “Pale Green Ghosts”
Immolation “Kingom Of Conspiracy”
Three Loco “Three Loco EP”
David Myles “In The Nighttime”
Barclay James Harvest “Caught Live”
Tommy Emmanuel & Martin Taylor “The Colonel & The Govenor”
Jah Cure “World Cry”
Mark Lanegan & Duke Garwood “Black Pudding”
The Band “Best of Volume II”
Orchid “The Mouths of Madness”
Kadavar “Abra Kadavar”
This Sound Will Save You “Let The Night Lead You”
Rhapsody Of Fire “Live – From Chaos To Eternity”
Various Artists “Rock & Roll Beginnings”
Various Artists “All Time Greatest Blues Songs”

Listen to track ‘Retreat’ HERE!
Pre-order ‘Give The People What They Want’ HERE! 

‘Give The People What They Want’ is certainly an appropriate title for Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings‘ upcoming release. After more than a decade of nearly constant recording, collaborating, and touring as one of the most formidable and consequential live acts performing today, they know what their audience wants from them.  They know, because it’s what they want, too.
This Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ je ne sais quoi – which has attracted everyone from Prince to Beck to John Legend to Michael Bublé, not to mention countless fans is found both on stage and in the recording booth. In the three years since the last release, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings have played major festivals, arenas and clubs all over the world including The Hollywood Bowl, The Sydney Opera House and multiple sold-out nights at the Apollo Theater in New York City. The band has also been featured on multitudes of television shows from The Colbert Report to Tavis Smiley and the Tonight Show.

After two year of touring behind 2010′s lauded I Learned The Hard Way, the band reconvened at home in Bushwick’s Daptone House of Soul Studios to begin work on their fifth album. The ten songs delivered here are seasoned with the unbridled soul you’ve come to expect, even need from the 11-piece band, yet there’s a freshness in the band’s performance and songwriting that gives the group’s fifth studio album a unique feel, unlike anything they have released to date. “Retreat!”, a dark up-tempo mover whose ominous stomping and lush arrangement will demand your full attention, “We Get Along” a classic anthemic feel-good number, and “Stranger To My Happiness” a perfect example of the studio expertise that defines the band and their sound. The sharp danceable funk grooves stick to your bones, the fervent, impassioned singing goes straight to your heart; and those sweet soul hooks stay in your head for days on end. What more could anyone ask for?
Give the people what they want, indeed.

Give The People What They Want – Track Listing
1. Retreat!
2. Stranger to My Happiness
3. We Get Along
4. You’ll Be Lonely
5. Now I See
6. Making Up and Breaking Up
7. Get Up and Get Out
8. Long Time, Wrong Time
9. People Don’t Get What They Deserve
10. Slow Down Love

Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings Tour Dates *CDN dates are bolded
May 19 -  Brooklyn, NY – The Great Googa Mooga Festival
May 26 – Aptos, CA – Santa Cruz Blues Festival
May 27 – Council Bluffs, IA – River’s Edge Park
June 6 – Long Beach, CA – Ink ‘N’ Iron Festival
June 15/16 – Croton on Hudson, NY – Clearwater Festival
June 25 – Highland Park, IL – Ravinia Festival
June 27 – Toronto, ON – TD Canada Trust Jazz Festival
June 28/29 – Rochester, NY – Rochester International Jazz Festival
June 30 – Cleveland, OH – Cain Park
July 3 – Montreal, QC – Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
July 4 – Quebec City, QC – D’Youville Square
July 6 – Newport, RI – Newport Yachting Centre
July 7 – Hampton Beach, NH – Hampton Brach Casino Ballroom
July 12 – Louisville, KY – Forecastle Festival
July 13 – Minneapolis, MN – Basilica Block Party

sharonjonesandthedapkings.com
facebook.com/sharonjonesandthedapkings

Another bright and sunny Tuesday we get to make ever better with some sweet new releases. Swedish horror metal band F.K.Ü have 2 releases, “4: The Rise of the Mosh Mongers” their latest razor-sharp thrash record, as well as the re-release of “Where Moshers Dwell”. Aesop Rock side project The Uncluded, a collaboration with Kimya Dawson fromerly of The Moldy Peaches, released their studio debut “Hokey Fright”. Blues harmonica legend James Cotton has released the new album “Cotton Mouth Man” almost 50 years after the release of his debut “Cut You Loose!”

F.K.Ü “4: The Rise of the Mosh Mongers”
The Uncluded “Hokey Fright”
James Cotton “Cotton Mouth Man”

Here are the remaining releases this week from Fontana North:
Mr. Dibbs “Deadworld Reborn”
Armin van Buuren & Friends “A State of Trance 600″
F.K.U “Where Moshers Dwell” Re-Release
Delain “Interlude”
Atrocity “Okkult”
Various Artists “Balance Presents Jozif”
Havoc “13″
Lisa Page Brooks “Ready”
Various Artists “The Beatles As Performed By”
Various Artists “Pink Floyd The Wall As Performed By”

After considerable speculation since Record Store Day, we can reveal that the new album by Boards of Canada, Tomorrow’s Harvest will be released on Tuesday June 11th by Warp Records.

http://cosecha-tranmisiones.com

“Tomorrow’s Harvest” Track List:
1. “Gemini”
2. “Reach for the Dead”
3. “White Cyclosa”
4. “Jacquard Causeway”
5. “Telepath”
6. “Cold Earth”
7. “Transmisiones Ferox”
8. “Sick Times”
9. “Collapse”
10. “Palace Posy”
11. “Split Your Infinities”
12. “Uritual”
13. “Nothing Is Real”
14. “Sundown”
15. “New Seeds”
16. “Come to Dust”
17. “Semena Mertvykh”

boardsofcanada.com
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facebook.com/boardsofcanada

Listen To The Track ’The Murderer’ HERE!

 On Tour With The Stranglers This Spring

British songwriter Mike Marlin‘s sound is dark and haunting, full of discordant melodies, deep, reverberating vocals, and ominous, storytelling lyrics. Raised in suburbia, he dropped out of Oxford and completed his education by attending as many gigs as possible, from Elvis Costello and Graham Parker to Siouxsie and the Banshees and The Cure. It wasn’t until 25 years later after a career spent staring at a computer screen that he decided to walk away and record an album. Within a year he found himself performing for thousands of people on tour with English punk rockers The Stranglers. Now Mike is coming to the North America for the first time and will once again join The Stranglers on tour this spring, and will release his new album, Grand Reveal, on May 28th via All My People and Fontana North.

Mike describes Grand Reveal as “a progression from someone who is happy and in love to someone who is truly murderous,” so it’s only fitting that the album contains a song titled ‘The Murderer.’ A song fit for a horror movie soundtrack, it opens with an ominous kick drum and features eerily screeching strings and ghostly echoing harmonies.

Grand Reveal opens with ‘Skull Beneath The Skin,’ featuring Mike’s crystal-clear, commanding vocals and sinister lyrics above layers of rich instrumentation. On title track ‘Grand Reveal,’ Mike’s vocals become hushed and conversational, as if he’s sharing deep, dark secrets with his listener. ‘Amazing’ is a heartbreaking song of love and loss that starts out soft and gentle before a wall of guitars comes crashing through the stillness.

Tour Dates w/ The Stranglers    *Canadian dates are bolded
05/30 – Majestic – Detroit, MI
05/31 – Danforth Music Hall – Toronto, ON
06/01 – Telus Theatre – Montreal, QC
06/03 – Highline Ballroom – New York, NY
06/04 – Brighton Music Hall – Boston, MA
06/05 – Union Transfer – Philadelphia, PA
06/07 – Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL
06/08 - Cobra Lounge – Chicago, IL

www.marlinmarlin.com
www.facebook.com/MikeMarlinMusic
twitter.com/MarlinNews

Last day of the month, let’s sneak all these new releases in before those May showers. California’s !!! (yes that’s really their name, pronounced ChkChkChk) pump up the funky jams on their 5th full length “THR!!!ER”. 4-piece punk rock band Sharks drop their sophomore effort “Selfhood”. Amorphis mark today with their 11th studio album “Circle”, and you guessed it, this legendary metal band is based out of Scandinavia, Helsinki to be exact.

!!! “THR!!!ER”
Sharks “Selfhood”
Amorphis “Circle”

Here are the remaining releases this week from Fontana North:
Avantasia “The Mystery of Time”
Arsis “Unwelcome”
The Good Family “The Good Family Album”
Stahlmann “Adamant”
Gama Bomb “Terror Tapes”
Melvins “Everybody Loves Sausages”
Junior Kelly “Piece of the Pie”
Charlie Poole With The Highlanders “The Complete Paramount & Brunswick Recordings, 1929”
Dead Can Dance “In Concert”
Various Artists “Imaginational Anthem Vols. 1-5″
Various Artists “Imaginational Anthem Vol. 6: Origins of American Primitive Guitar”
Various Artists “Top Musicians Play ZZ Top & Lynyrd Skynyrd”
Various Artists “Top Musicians Play The Maiden Years & Whitesnake”

The Toronto Urban Roots Fest has announced the lineup and it’s jam-packed with Fontana North and MapleMusic Recordings artists including: The Joel Plaskett Emergency, Flogging Molly, The Lowest of The Low, Skydiggers, The Cat Empire, and The Wooden Sky. The festival, held July 4th to 7th at the Fort York: Garrison Common. Full lineup listed below.

A brand new summer festival is setting out to re-affirm that Toronto is a mecca for live music. This week, pre-eminent concert promoters Collective Concerts in conjunction with Eggplant, Funtime and NOW Magazine, unveiled the complete line-up for a brand new multi-day outdoor festival happening in the heart of downtown Toronto.

The Toronto Urban Roots Fest, dubbed “TURF”, runs from July 4 through 7, 2013. It marks the return of an outdoor multi-day roots festival to downtown Toronto, for the first time since 1995 – which, incidentally, was the last year that the Mariposa Folk Festival was held in Toronto. TURF’s creative director and founder, Jeff Cohen – co-owner of the Horseshoe Tavern, Lee’s Palace, The Collective, and Toronto Island Concerts, was also the Artistic Director of Mariposa way back in 1995.

Regular multi four day tickets are on sale now for $150 and multi four day VIP tickets are priced at $350. Earlybird single day tickets are priced daily and range between $40 and $60 dollars. Earlybird single day VIP tickets range between $140 to $160 dollars and are on sale now for a limited time. All tickets are sold all-in, with no added fees or ticket surcharges. Tickets can be purchased online at TICKETFLY.com or in person at Soundscapes, Rotate This, or the H-Shoe Tavern front bar.

The festival will financially benefit both the City of Toronto and the Fort York Museum.

TURF: COMPLETE LINE-UP
THURSDAY, JULY 4 (gates 5 p.m.)
She & Him
The Joel Plaskett Emergency
Camera Obscura
The Barr Brothers

FRIDAY, JULY 5 (gates 5 p.m.)
Arkells
Fitz & The Tantrums
Justin Townes Earle
JD Mcpherson

SATURDAY, JULY 6 (gates 11 a.m.)
Flogging Molly
The Hold Steady
The Lowest of The Low
Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls
Matt Mays
Dawes
Skydiggers
The Felice Brothers
Hannah Georgas
Larry & His Flask

SUNDAY, JULY 7 (gates 11 a.m.)
Belle & Sebastian
Neko Case
Xavier Rudd
The Cat Empire
Whitehorse
Yo La Tengo
Alejandro Escovedo & The Sensitive Boys
Kurt Vile & The Violators
The Sadies
The Wooden Sky

TURF on Facebook
TURF Official Website

Good morning, did everyone manage to snag a sweet find on Record Store Day? I know I did. But if you didn’t we’ve got four new releases to take the edge off. Young Galaxy’s fourth full length effort “Ultramarine” is out today, the Vancouver dream pop band worked with electronic producer Dan Lissvik at his studio in Gothenburg, Sweden. Catch this release on limited 180 gram white vinyl while you still can. Shekinah Glory Ministry released “Surrender” in 2012 and it’s now out on DVD with footage recorded at the gospel group’s church. Senegal-born reggae artist Meta Dia’s second record “Ancient Power”, released under the name Meta & The Cornerstones, is out now through VP Records.

Young Galaxy “Ultramarine”
Shekinah Glory Ministry “Surrender” DVD
Meta & The Cornerstones “Ancient Power”

Here are the remaining releases this week from Fontana North:
Desmond Pringle “Fidelity”

Juno nominee Kristina Maria performs two songs including hit single “Karma” on Breakfast Television in Toronto.

BT Host Jennifer Valentyne tweeted this fantastic picture of the two of them after the set, can anyone say “BFFs!”. Maria is nominated for Pop Album of the Year at the 2013 Juno Awards this Sunday April 21st.

Hit the thumbnails to see her performances on BT from her album “Tell The World”

Watch “Karma”                                            Watch “You Don’t Have The Right To Cry”